Khrista Chronicles: I Choose You! (Take 2)
by FourthWallBreaker
Summary: (Redo of original story) After the events of Maria's second adventure, a certain man decides there is a way to enact his revenge, however, instead of Maria, another girl is pulled in. Join Khrista as she goes on her own adventure and save the world!
1. Prologue -- Secret Intentions

**Hey, guys. Nexus here with the start of another updated version of one of my stories. This time, though, it's the first one in the Khrista Chronicles. (I know, Rainpath, that there's a lot that I have to correct (in both this and Maria's Adventures).)**

**The editing for Khrista's story starts here and now with a different, darker start.**

**Before anyone asks, I don't have X or Y (yet), so the events of that region aren't going to take place in this story. I'll be doing that later, when I (hopefully) get one of the games.**

**I look forward to hearing from you guys on how I've improved with this story! If you've got any suggestions as to what I could add (and how I could get around to it), let me know by review or PM!**

**And the Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, then I would have still made the new games available for the regular DS.**

**Prologue - Secret Intentions**

A figure paced in front of a large machine, watching a shorter, smaller figure working diligently at the controls.

"You're certain this will work," the pacing figure stated shortly, watching the other with a hard gaze. "Unlike your last round of experiments?"

The shorter figure glanced back, his glasses flashing in response to a change in the angle of light. "I am most certain. This kind of technology was highly common in the past." A sinister grin was stretched across the other's face. "It is a technology that I happen to know quite well. The trick, however, is to change the power source and lock onto that blasted girl's -"

"Yes, yes, you explained it all before." The pacer sounded irritated. "As did the other we found through the rip in space you had created."

The scientist returned to his work and gave an absent nod. "Of course, of course. I suppose there is a reason you won't use those to find -"

"Yes." The pacer walked over to the scientist, his face becoming strangely illuminated by the device in front of him. "Are you ready or not?"

The scientist glanced up in the other's direction. "I was simply recalibrating and double-checking. No use trying to find your target when we end up finding people on another world, correct?"

The taller's figure's eyes narrowed. "Just do it."

The scientist eyed the other for a moment, then returned his gaze to the monitor in front of him. "Locking in on the signal from the planet known as Earth." His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, and then started to move about rapidly. "Someone should be coming through in three...two...now."

The reaction from the machine was instantaneous. Its engine roared to life as the sides lit up in strange patterns. There was a sudden blast of light from the top of the machine, and the column pierced through dark clouds. There was a flash of blue, and the machine powered down, leaving only the glowing monitor in working order.

The taller of the two figures started to look around. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"Patience," the scientist replied. "I may not have been able to lock onto her exact location as of yet. It will take some time in order for me to lock in on her specific bio-electric signal."

Nearby, there was a groan and the sound of someone moving. The two figures looked at each other, then started for the source of the noise.

A young man, no more than seventeen years of age, looked up in alarm as the two figures approached, his wide, blue eyes showing shock.

"No way!" he exclaimed. "You guys shouldn't be able to do something like this!"

The taller of the two figures reached down and grabbed the boy by his shirt collar, pulling him to his feet. Forcing the boy's eyes to look into his own, the taller figure demanded, "Where is White?!"

The boy blinked. There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, but that quickly disappeared. "Who? You mean the Trainer from Unova?"

"No! She is a girl from your world, boy, and I intend to find her." The man turned to face shadows that lay nearby. "You! Take him to his cell. Then find Saturn. He'll know what to do with him." The man threw the boy in the direction of the shadows, then turned and started back for the scientist. He didn't bother to watch as the boy was dragged into the shadows, struggling violently against his new captor...

**There's my connection to Maria's Adventures, if anyone's wondering.  
So, what did you guys think of the new prologue? Certainly gives a new spin on things, doesn't it?**

***voice off-screen*: Nexus! Something's come up! There's a whole lot more to this story that what I originally told you! *chocolate-haired, green-eyed girl rushes in with large stack of notebooks* Here. These should help.**

***takes notebooks* Uh...thanks, Scribe.**

**Scribe: Don't mention it! *poof!***

**I am not going to be able to get used to that...**


	2. Arrival

**Hello! I'm baaack! And with a new chapter (well, an old chapter that's been updated, but you get the idea).**

**Things are going to look similar here, but there's going to be a LOT that's different, thanks to the new info I got from Scribe. *hefts large pile notebooks***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, I'd have made it so that they're playable on mobile devices WITHOUT the use of emulators - with Trading still intact!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 1 - Arrival**

"Oooh... What happened? It feels like I've been hit by a truck."

A figure, a teenage girl of sixteen years, rubbed her head as she got up unsteadily from the ground, rubbing her head and clenching her eyes and teeth to try and stop the pain she was feeling. After a moment, the girl pushed her dark brown hair out of her face, and opened her eyes, revealing deep blue pools. Said blue eyes quickly widened when the girl got a good look at her surroundings.

Turning frantically in every direction, she squeaked, "Where am I?!"

The girl was standing in what had probably once been a grassy plain. However, everything was now black and ominous. The dirt, the rocks, the three mountains that towered close by - even the sky, which rumbled occasionally with faint thunder. Not only that, but everything was stiff and brittle - the noise of the grass under the girl's feet confirmed that. There wasn't even a breath of wind to move anything around - even though the clouds were in constant motion, swirling like some witch's broth.

Cautiously, the girl stepped forward, looking around in shock at her strange, colorless surroundings.

"This isn't right," she muttered. "Last thing I remember was playing on my DS..."

She took a step forward, only to feel something hit her shoe. The girl looked down, frowned, then bent down and picked up the object, rubbing the dirt off with her red shirt as she did so.

"A PokeBall?" the girl asked in confusion, looking down at the red and white sphere. "Is this one of those toys that pops open?"

_"What you hold is no toy."_

The teen stiffened as he grip tightened on the ball, and she looked around with a somewhat fearful expression. "Who's there?" she asked in a squeak. "Sh-show yourself!"

_"Look behind you,"_ the voice replied, still eerily calm.

The girl turned around quickly, holding the ball up as though she was ready to throw it at who had been speaking in her head. However, when she saw who else was on the dark plain with her, the teen froze and the PokeBall dropped from her hand.

"No...impossible," the girl murmured. "You're not supposed to be real!"

The creature in front of her - a strange, purple monster with bright blue eyes and a twitching tail - held out its arms to its side as though it was waiting for her to run at it and hug it._ "How can I not be real if I'm standing right in front of you?"_

"But...Pokemon are only video game characters!" the girl argued. "There's no way that -"

_"Khrista. Stop."_ The Pokemon's voice had taken on a serious tone. _"What you thought wasn't real is. Where else do you think your world gained information on mine?"_

"_Your_ world?" Khrista's voice came out in a squeak, and she looked around in terror. "Are you saying that I'm on another planet? And how do you know my name?" She reached for her left arm with her right and started to pinch right below where the short sleeve of her red shirt ended.

_"Pinch all you like; you're not going to wake up,"_ the Pokemon stated bluntly. _"As for your actions, what you did on your 'games' occurred here in real time in accordance with the event, in the form of an army of Trainers." _He let out a sigh._ "The others caught on much more quickly than this. I am surprised you have not yet."_

"Caught on? Others?" Khrista was confused. "Mewtwo, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

Mewtwo let out an annoyed sigh. _"There are events taking place here that you humans of Earth never took into account. Cyrus has done things you never knew - that you would never dream of realizing."_

Khrista blinked. "The Galactic nerd?" She looked around again. "But...how did he do this? He was stopped and disappeared-"

_"Well, he came back,"_ Mewtwo replied shortly._ "And now we have bigger problems. He's been pulling children through from your world looking for someone, and there has been..."_ He motioned to the landscape as proof.

Khrista blinked again. "Did you just say that _he_ pulled me through?"

_"Yes."_ Mewtwo looked grim.

The one-word answer shook Khrista to the bone. She started to look around nervously again. "Then...where's Cyrus?"

_"Not here, if that is what you're worried about." _Mewtwo turned his head to look off to his left; Khrista followed his gaze and caught sight of a tall tower of white and blue in the distance; a rather mutilated version of the Galactic symbol was at the top._ "He will be sending a...'prelate,' I believe would be the correct term."_ The Pokemon looked back at Knrista. _"This is what he did for the others that didn't appear within his citadel."_

"Others?" Khrista repeated. "Why did he go after others?" Her looking around became a bit more frantic.

_"You were teleported here, as were the others, because they and you had some sort of connection to this world in one way or another,"_ Mewtwo explained. _"The games, no matter how many you played other than his, resulted in your being pulled into this world."_

"Why? What would this maniac want with me - or anybody else?"

_"He is most likely searching for someone," _came a second telepathic voice.

Khrista jumped and started to look around again, only for a small, pink being to appear in front of her nose.

The teen blinked. "Mew?"

_"I prefer Aurora,"_ the small Psychic-Type replied calmly, backing away a couple feet._ "Cyrus' hunt seems to have been kept in a certain area, rather than across your world and in different regions."_

"But...who would he be looking for?"

Before either Psychic-Type could respond, a third telepathic voice shouted in her mind: _"KHRISTA!"_

The shout caused not only Khrista to flinch, but Mewtwo and Aurora as well.

_"Rayquaza, please!" _Mewtwo called. _"Not so loud. You could cause brain damage!"_

Khrista's eyes widened in surprise. "That was a Rayquaza?"

Aurora gave a nod._ "He has been waiting for his Trainer to arrive, and apparently thinks that the Trainer is you."_

Khrista blinked, then frowned. "Well, I have had use of Rayquaza pretty often - he is my favorite Pokemon. But how would he know -"

There was a loud cry from above, and a long, green and red, snake-like creature flew down from the clouded sky and down to the trio, circling in order to stay close.

_"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to meet you in person?_" The Dragon/Flying-Type asked with less volume. His mouth was slightly open, showing his sharp teeth in what looked like they could have been a smile. _"It's good to finally see you, Khrista."_

The teen took a step back in alarm, leaning back so that she could take in all of the Pokemon that she could. "Whoa." A nervous grin made its way across her face. "I really hope I'm not dreaming, because this is really cool."

_"Indeed,"_ Mewtwo agreed. _"However, we can't stay here for long. We're in danger of being spotted by -"_

_"Relax,"_ the Rayquaza scoffed. _"Entei and the others said that there was no one in sight."_ He turned to look at Khrista more closely. "_Besides, the rest of the team has been waiting to meet up with you."_

Khrista blinked blankly. "The rest of the team?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth when a blue mermaid-cat and a white and gray dog-like creature tackled Khrista from out of nowhere, sending the teen sprawling on her back while the two creatures sat on either side of her.

"Vaporrr!" the mermaid-cat exclaimed, appearing to grin.

"Linoone!" the dog added, nuzzling Khrista in her side.

Khrista, who had been staring in surprise, laughed when the nose slipped under her shirt and started to tickle the teenager.

"It's good to see you too, Vapor, Linoone," Khrista stated, nodding to the two Pokemon in turn. A frown came over her face as she recalled the Pokemon that had been on her team in the game a moment ago. "But where's Swamp and Raichu?"

She got her answer when a large, blue mud fish-like creature and an orange mouse with a lightning bolt at the end of its tail ran past Mewtwo and Rayquaza as Khrista was getting up. Both Pokemon murmured in their respective cries as they came close and circled around their Trainer.

Mewtwo let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head. _"This will get us even more attention from Cyrus, Rayquaza. You should have left them on the mountain with Entei, Suicune, and Raikou."_

_"Like I was going to sit around when my Trainer is right here!"_ the Legendary retorted.

"The three Legendaries from Jhoto are up there?" Khrista asked, motioning to the nearby mountains.

Aurora gave a nod. "_They have been protecting what remains of the free Pokemon, though now only a small number of...'Legendaries' are left."_

Khrista frowned. "Left? What do you mean?"

_"It involves Cyrus and his plans,"_ Mewtwo replied shortly. _"Darkrai and Cresselia have been working on keeping hope in the rest of the world - and terror in the tower - but there hasn't been much progress in that. And Articuno has been begging for something to do, but the others haven't let her out of their sight for fear of what could happen."_

Khrista gained a worried look - one that was mimicked by her Pokemon team. "You mean Cyrus is trying to catch all the Legendaries?"

_"That seems to be it, yes."_

"Why hasn't anyone stepped up to stop him yet?" Khrista demanded. As she looked around at the Pokemon that surrounded her, another thought entered her mind. "Where's Ash Ketchum?"

The Pokemon looked at Khrista in surprise, then at each other with concerned expressions. Khrista didn't like the look of it, or that Mewtwo had gained a guarded expression that she normally saw on TV.

Obviously, something must have happened.

"What happened to Ash?" Khrista asked cautiously, her eyes flicking between each of the Pokemon.

_"Do you wish to tell her?" Aurora asked, looking to Mewtwo. "Or shall I? After all, Chaos, you were there."_

Khrista blinked upon hearing the unfamiliar name, then realized it was Mewtwo's name when he bowed his head and shut his eyes.

A moment later, the Psychic-Type began to speak.

_"When Ash finished the Sinnoh League, having not run into Team Galactic at all during his journey, Cyrus somehow managed to escape from the Distortion World,"_ Chaos explained in a dark tone.

Khrista's eyes widened. "Ash didn't fight Team Galactic? Then who did?"

_"Another Trainer who we happen to be allies with,"_ Aurora explained. _"However, she wasn't in the region at the time, nor was she in our world."_

"Not in your world?" Khrista frowned. "Wait...you said that Cyrus was looking for someone -"

_"I will explain that part of our situation later,"_ Chaos stated quickly._ "For now, Ash is the center of our story, not White."_

Before Khrista could open her mouth again to ask who White was, the Pokemon continued.

_"Ash climbed to the top of Mt. Coronet with four allies - the Legendary Pokemon of the Lakes, as well as myself - to stop Cyrus before he went too far. However...it did not go so well."_

Khrista's eyebrows came together as a concerned frown came over her face. "It's got something to do with what's around us, doesn't it?"

_"Yes. Cyrus won, and he plunged the world into darkness." _Chaos bowed his head.

"Such a sad story," came a sarcastic-sounding voice.

At once, all the Pokemon around Khrista bristled as they turned to face the voice, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Slowly, she turned around, then froze when she saw who had spoken.

"Of course, that's just how you tell it," remarked the black-haired, thirteen-year-old boy standing in front of the group. A dry, emotionless grin was stretched across his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest, which clearly bore the Galactic symbol. In fact, the boy's entire outfit was the Galactic uniform.

It wasn't this that caught Khrista's attention, however: it was the pair of dark red eyes that watched her coldly.

The girl took a step back, her blue eyes still locked on the boy's orbs. "...Ash?"

The empty grin seemed to widen, and the red-eyed boy laughed. "Well, look at that! The kid isn't clueless after all!" He looked over at the two Psychic-Types and Rayquaza, and a gleam came into his eye - a gleam that Khrista didn't necessarily like. "And you've got three Legendaries, too! Master is going to be really pleased with this!"

Swampert snorted and moved in front of the three Legendaries. Raichu joined him, looking just as defensive and angry as electricity sparked from her cheeks.

"Raii," the Electric-Type said in a warning manner.  
Ash appeared to be bored from this show of aggression.

"Cute," he said dryly. The teenager reached behind him and brought a black PokeBall out of nowhere. "But you're nowhere as scary as this guy."

With an emotionless toss, the PokeBall was thrown into the air, and it popped open with an explosion of dark light, releasing a large, dark snake-like creature with six black tentacles and a golden mask on its face.

Raichu and Swampert looked up at the giant Pokemon in front of them, and the stiffened in to battle stances.

"We've taken on bigger," the mud fish grunted, gaining a look of surprise from Khrista.

The girl shook off her confusion, deciding that Swampert's statement was probably a trick by her mind or something.

"Giratina looks more creepy than usual," she muttered. "And not just because he's in Origin Forme." Glancing back, she asked Chaos, "And what in the name of Arceus happened to Ash up there? He's supposed to have brown eyes, not...that color." She glared back at the Kanto Trainer, who was still standing where he was with a smug look on his face that was contrasted by the blank look in his eyes.

"Oh, so you _don't_ know!" Ash let out a short, cold laugh. "You haven't told her yet, Mewtwo? I'm _so_ disappointed." He made a show of shaking his head, a smirk still on his face.

Chaos' eyes narrowed. _"I have had enough of your childish antics."_

He made a motion with a three-fingered hand, a strip of Psychic energy appeared out of nowhere over Ash's mouth. The teenager struggled for a moment, but then stood still, eyes staring blankly at he group. Giratina continued to float where he was, his eyes seeming to bore into Khrista's very soul.

Khrista looked over at Chaos. "What happened?" she repeated.

Chaos let out a sigh. _"There was a great fight between Cyrus and us. However, something gave. Giratina unleashed...a powerful attack that knocked everyone back. In seconds, Cyrus had unleashed the one weapon he had been building during his exile - the one thing he used to ensnare Giratina, and had attempted to use before on others. Ash...he stood in its way and let it take him, rather than see us taken."_

As Chaos spoke, the back of Khrista's mind echoed with voices yelling - a memory being transferred from the Psychic-Type, perhaps?

_"Ash! No!"_

_"Go! I'm not going to let you guys - nnnrgh - fall under his control!"_

_"But -"_

_"GO!"_

Khrista found herself at a loss for words. "No...he..." She quickly remembered what had happened in the Sinnoh games. "He took the Red Chain for you guys?"

Chaos nodded grimly. _"Unfortunately, not all of us were able to escape unscathed. The Lake Spirits..."_ The Psychic-Type bowed his head.

Khrista's eyes widened. "No...they got taken, too?"

"Master wouldn't say 'taken' so much as 'enlightened'," came Ash's voice again.

Khrista turned, only to see that the Psychic energy Chaos had gagged the boy with was gone, revealing that empty grin again.

"A lot of Pokemon have been, but I'm the only human." The empty grin widened. "Lucky me."

Khrista took a step back, only for her legs to bump into something. Glancing down, she saw that Vapor and Linoone were standing right behind her, looking up at her with concerned eyes.

_I can't let them down, _Khrista realized. _They're my Pokemon. They look up to me, whether I've really been here or not._ Her resolve strengthened, she turned back to Ash with a newfound glare in her eyes.

"All right, Ash Ketchum," Khrista hissed. "How about we settle this the old fashioned way, huh?"

"Oh, really?" came the response.

"Yeah. You, me." Khrista pointed at Ash and herself. "Pokemon Battle. Right here, right now." The teenager pointed at the dark ground below them, looking just about ready to throw herself into the fight if not for what she knew of that world's rules.

The grin faded from Ash's face, replaced with a blank frown. "I wasn't told to battle you."

"If Trainers lock eyes, they have to battle," Khrista snapped in reply. "Even your puppet master should know that well enough."

The Pokemon around her looked at each other; Raichu and Swampert exchanged glances before smirking and nodding.

Ash blinked, then he let out a sigh. "All right, all right. Giratina could use some exercise, anyway. Which one of your little pests are you going to use first?"

Khrista turned to look back at her team and the three Legendaries, quickly going over Type match-ups in her head.

"Rayquaza," Khrista called out. "You've done the best against this guy before. You up for another round?"

The Dragon/Flying-Type looked down at the teenager, then over at Giratina for a moment before nodding, his mouth opening up on some sort of sharp-toothed grin. _"Yeah. That'll work just fine." _He snaked around the group and brought himself up into his gigantic height in between Khrista and Giratina. _"Bring it on!"_

As if in response, the Distortion World Pokemon let out a roar and brought its tentacles forward in a fast, stabbing motion that brought forth a purple-tainted blast of wind. Rayquaza ended up taking the blow, causing the wind to part and avoid hitting the other Pokemon and Khrista.

"Blast back with Dragon Pulse!" Khrista yelled, one arm up so that what wind that got to her avoided her eyes. "It'll help us get a good idea of what that thing's strengths are, at least."

Rayquaza, even though he was being battered, drew us head back as a purple and white sphere of energy materialized in his open mouth. A moment later, the sphere became a wide beam that slammed into the other Legendary, causing it to shriek loudly and get pushed back.

Giratina quickly recovered, however, and it's tentacles started to glow a bright red as it started to fly up close to Rayquaza.

In a panic, Khrista called out, "Fly!"

Rayquaza responded quickly to the command, shooting upward right before Giratina's tentacles slammed into the green dragon's previous position.

Rayquaza circled around above them for a moment, then slammed into Giratina's body, gaining another cry from the opponent Pokemon.

But then the Sinnoh Legendary turned into black shadow, then disappeared entirely as Rayquaza removed himself from lying on top of Giratina.

"Was that -"

_"Shadow Force,"_ Chaos confirmed grimly. _"He could appear anywhere in this area and attack from any side."_

Khrista, who had looked back at the Pokemon, gave a nod. "OK. But not if we can try to spot him first." Looking back at Rayquaza, she stated quickly, "Up in the air again - we need to see where Giratina might end up showing up."

The Legendary gave a nod, then took off into the sky and started to circle the group of Pokemon and his Trainer.

Ash gave another cold laugh and a crooked smile. "Like that's going to work! Even I don't know where Giratina's going to show up!"

Khrista turned sharply and glared at the Trainer with as venomous a glare as she could muster. "The Pokemon has a mind of its own, of course you wouldn't know!"

_"I see him!_" Rayquaza started to barrel downward towards a location a good distance away from both Ash and the others. However, the Pokemon was quickly forced to retreat when a ball of dark energy was blasted at him._ "Well, that's his fourth attack."_

Khrista frowned as she watched the two Pokemon collide with each other, then looked back at the other Pokemon. "Normally, Giratina would have been knocked out by now. Something's wrong."

_"It most likely has something to do with the device that Cyrus was able to create and use to ensnare,"_ Aurora stated grimly. _"Perhaps, if a Pokemon became too far gone, he or she would be able to beat him."_

"Too far gone?" Khrista repeated, frowning. She looked over at the scuffle, and, seeing that Rayquaza was starting to look more exhausted than Giratina, decided to play one of her trump cards - maybe this would turn the tide.

"Outrage!" the teenager screamed.

Rayquaza suddenly let out a loud, angered roar that seemed to shake the ground; Khrista took a step back when the wave of noise hit her full-on in the face. Blinking rapidly, she watched as Rayquaza started to go after Giratina with much more force that he had been before - no holding back, now.

Giratina let out a loud screech when Rayquaza lashed out and sunk his teeth into the Ghost/Dragon-Type. Rayquaza didn't let go, even when the other Legendary slashed at him with his tentacles; instead, he shook Giratina around for a moment, then let go by tossing him into the air. The new-found chew toy crash-landed, sending large pieces of the ground flying in all directions - including Khrista's.

_"Be careful!"_ Chaos barked as he and Aurora moved in front of the Trainer. An energy shield went up seconds later, causing the dirt clogs to bounce off. As they did, Khrista caught sight of small, multicolored spheres bouncing in all directions.

"Are those more PokeBalls?" Khrista asked, wide-eyed.

_"Yes,"_ Aurora replied. _"The PokeBalls of the Pokemon Cyrus has taken. No one has yet to reclaim any of the capture spheres."_

Meanwhile, Rayquaza was starting to growl as Giratina got up from the rut it had created. The two Legendaries charged at each other and were soon in a wrestling match of sorts, both letting out angry snarls as they continued to claw and bite at each other.

Khrista knew that she was going to have to throw out her other trump card.

"Rayquaza!" Khrista yelled. "Use -"

_"Don't!"_ Chaos put a three-fingered paw over Khrista's mouth. _"Rayquaza is too deep in his anger to hear you now. If you call him out, it will leave him weakened and open to attack from Dark Giratina. He will take care of this - do not worry."_

As the Mewtwo removed his paw, Khrista blinked at him in confusion, then nodded reluctantly, concern clear on her face.

"All right," she stated, reluctantly. "If you say so."

Meanwhile, Rayquaza was still thrashing about, attacking not only Giratina but the surrounding countryside. One of his claws, crackling with energy, slashed out a Giratina so quickly that the Dark Legendary let out a cry of pain as its form seemed to shift.

A second slash, and there was the loud sound of something made of glass breaking. A moment later, some kind of red dust went flying off the Ghost/Dragon-Type and took to the skies before dissipating.

_"Incredible,"_ Aurora murmured.

Beside Khrista, Raichu let out a delighted cry. A moment later, she exclaimed, "I knew you could do it, Rayquaza!"

Khrista looked down at the Electric-Type in surprise, then shook it off. Turning to look at Aurora, she asked, "Did Rayquaza just break a Red Chain?"

_"Indeed,"_ Aurora replied with a nod.

Giratina, now freed of the Chain, looked about quickly, let out a loud shriek when he saw Ash, and turned and flew off for the mountains, using Shadow Force to get fully out of sight.

In response, Rayquaza let out a roar at the retreating Pokemon, then turned to face the rest of the group. Khrista felt her blood run cold as she saw the crazed look in his eyes.

"Chaos, don't Pokemon snap out of confusion after a battle?" Khrista asked, looking over at the Mewtwo with a look of cautious confusion.

_"That used to be so,"_ the Psychic-Type admitted._ "However, there have been changes made since Cyrus brought his own ideas forward. It will eventually wear off."_

Rayquaza looked around the plain, growling at everything that moved. Ash was getting the most attention, and the controlled Trainer seemed to be enjoying it.

"Well, looks like I might be able to get a new toy for my Master," Ash remarked.

"You're not getting Rayquaza," Khrista responded instantly, pointing at Ash accusingly. "He's a part of my team, not some wild monster."

"Oh, yeah?" Ash grinned. "I'll change that, believe me." He looked back at the Legendary.

Khrista felt her blood run cold when she saw that Ash's arms were starting to glow a dangerous red.

Swampert let out a growl. "Oh, no he won't." He started forward, but Chaos held out an arm in front of the Water/Ground-Type.

_"Careful," _the Psychic-Type warned. _"There's a chance that you will be caught, too."_

"What's going on?" Khrista asked in a squeak.

_"It's called the Ketchum Treatment,"_ Aurora explained._ "He is going to bind Rayquaza, like he was bound. It will drain him of any spirit he has."_

Khrista's eyes widened, and she paled. "No..." She looked back at Ash, who was starting to build up more energy. "We've got to stop him!"

Chaos started to explain. _"If any of us step forward, his concentration will -"_

Khrista didn't want to hear any more of it. She dashed forward, yelling, "Ash Ketchum! STOP!"

The Kanto Trainer didn't take his eyes off Rayquaza. "Why?"

Khrista was so desperate to save her Pokemon, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"It's not Rayquaza you wanted - it's me!"

There was a collective gasp from the Pokemon behind Khrista.

Ash jolted upon hearing Khrista's statement, then turned his head to look in her direction. The red crystals that had been forming on his arms suddenly died.

"Just...just leave him alone!" Khrista added in a squeaky, panicked voice.

Ash gave what might have passed as a skeptical, curious expression for him.

"You would sacrifice yourself to keep me away from your Pokemon?" He turned fully and walked towards Khrista, who took a step back with a hesitant expression on her face.

A sinister grin came over Ash's face, but Khrista could have sworn that she saw concern - or was that fear? - in the Trainer's red eyes.

"Man, you really must be weak," Ash stated coldly. "Fine. I'll let your precious Pokemon go." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

A moment later, it was as though space was warped around Khrista in three different places, and three small, rather familiar figures appeared. Khrista's now fearful gaze moved around, looking at each one in turn: one had a sickly green head where yellow should have been, the next was a magenta rather than pink, and the third was so dark purple that it was nearly black, despite having once been blue.

"All right, you three, " Ash stated. "We've gotta head back to the Master - stat." He looked back at the other Pokemon, who were staring at Khrista in shock. "And you six better take your friend and get out of here before I change my mind!"

Before Ash could say anything more, the three corrupted Lake Spirits raised their arms and let out a simultaneous call that resulted in the space around Ash and Khrista becoming warped. A moment later, they weren't on the plains anymore.

They were standing in front of the giant citadel. And there were two familiar figures standing directly in front of it. Khrista would have backed up in fear if it weren't for the fact that she was presently surrounded by three Legendaries who could knock her out at a moment's notice.

One of the two figures - a woman with long purple hair - stomped forward and glared down at Khrista before moving her attention to Ash.

"Where's the girl's Pokemon?" the woman demanded.

Ash shrugged. "Back at the Graveyard. I'm giving them a five-minute headstart before I hunt them down."

"Are you nuts?! They're going to be gone before you get back out here!"

The Kanto Trainer let out an annoyed sigh. "Look, she wanted me to take her instead of one of her Pokemon. Master told me to get her, anyway." He looked over at Khrista, who shrank back. The movement caught the attention of the purple-haired woman and the blue-haired man standing by the door.

Khrista swallowed nervously as the woman looked her over. _Jessie and James are working for Team Galactic? Why?_

Jessie frowned as she looked down at the teenager, then returned her attention to Ash - or, more specifically, the belt around his waist. "Where's Giratina?"

_"Gone," _came a simultaneous hum from the Lake Trio.

Khrista shuddered upon hearing their voices - they sounded too much like robots.

Jessie glanced over at Khrista. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Ash shrugged. "I would have gotten the Rayquaza that did it if she hadn't broken my concentration."

"You're not getting any of my Pokemon!" Khrista burst out, angered at how he had said it so flippantly. "Especially not Rayquaza!"

"Shut your mouth!" Jessie barked.

Khrista scowled and stuck her tongue out, remembering what exactly she had seen multiple times on Saturday mornings with the pair from Team Rocket.

Even though she was without her Pokemon, that didn't mean that she couldn't respond boldly to the threats.

Jessie let out a low growl in response and raised a hand as though to hit the girl, but Ash grabbed her arm and prevented what might have been a hard slap.

"Remember, we don't know if this is her yet or not," he growled. "I have to take her to the Master to be sure."

Jessie's snarl faded from her face, and she looked over at Ash. A moment later, she relaxed her arm and gave an annoyed huff. "All right, fine. But if she isn't -"

"Yeah, yeah." Ash waved an arm carelessly. "I'll make sure you're at the top of the list." He looked over at Khrista, then started towards the door of the citadel.

A moment later, Khrista let out a yelp as she felt something lift her up and carry her forward. She looked to either side of her in alarm, and came to the conclusion that the Lake Spirits were using their Psychic abilities to lift her into the air. Maybe they thought they could move faster this way?

As the group went though the entrance, Khrista heard James mutter, "Let's hope the boss doesn't miss Giratina."

A moment later, the door was shut behind them, leaving Jessie and James outside.

Khrista swallowed nervously as she looked around at the stark white walls, floor, and ceiling that formed the room they had just walked into. There were three glowing panels on the floor at the opposite end of the room.

Ash started towards the one in the center, grabbing Khrista's arm and pulling her with him. "Come on. Master's going to want to see you." He dragged her onto the glowing panel that was in the center.

Khrista released a shudder as she felt a tickling sensation crawl over her body. There was a bright flash, and their surroundings instantly changed into a long, white hallway that had no defining features or pops of color.

Except for the two long lines of kids and Pokemon on either side of the hall.  
They're standing like soldiers, Khrista realized. She looked over each of their faces, and shock smacked her in the face when she realized that these were people from her school - her home town.

_Chaos said something about looking for someone..._ the girl recalled. Her eyes widened. _Is she in my neighborhood?!_

Ash's grip tightened on Khrista's writs. "Hurry it up, girl. We don't have all day for you to gawk."

Khrista glared at his back. "Oh, sure. Like Cyrus left time to run its course," she snapped.

Ash stopped sharply and turned around in order to give Khrista the full force of his emotionless glare. "Listen, you. You don't say the Master's name in this building without his permission."

"Then what am I supposed to call him? Galactic Goonhead?" Khrista had picked up the nickname some time ago from a friend, and it seemed right to spit it out now.

It was as if everything had suddenly stilled.

Ash stiffened and tried to look more intimidating. "You didn't."

"I believe I did." Khrista stuck her tongue out at the Kanto Trainer. "And I bet there's nothing you can do about it."

Ash's red eyes narrowed, and a moment later, Khrista felt something hit the back of her head - hard.

The world went dark.

**As you can tell, I've started to move things around and change things up a bit. What do you think of the new Ash? Not too nice, I hope. And no more near-death damage to the Trainer - this works much better, in my opinion.**

**Giratina's attacks: Ominous Wind, Dragon Claw, Shadow Force, Outrage**

**Rayquaza: Fly, Dragon Pulse, Outrage, ?**

**And, by the way, I've started work on rewriting chapter 11 of this thing, so that kind of gives you an idea on how long I waited when I was rewriting until I posted.**

**See you next week!**


	3. Reporting In

**This next chapter's written from 3rd person - Ash's perspective (so to speak...).**

**Because of his present status as minion, a few things in the story are going to have different names, even if you guys already know who is being talked about.**

**Chapter 2 - Reporting In**

Ash gave a nod to the three Lake Spirits. "I was about to do the same myself."

Dark Uxie wordlessly removed his tails from the back of the brown-haired girl's neck, where he had applied a large force of Psychic energy a few seconds ago. Then the Pokemon floated ahead and continued down the corridor. Dark Mesprit and Dark Azelf followed after him, carrying the unconscious other-worlder between them.

Ash followed after them, his face shifting to a blank slate. He was so intent on getting to the master of operations that he didn't even notice a pair of wide, shocked eyes follow him down the corridor.

When the Red Chain-bound Trainer turned an invisible corner and disappeared out of sight, the pair of eyes snapped back into a blank stare at the figure across from her. Both figures shared a quick exchange full of emotion before settling back into the blank state of the others around them.

Ash ended up taking another warp panel at the end of the corridor, taking him and the Lake Spirits to a hall that had steel doors on either side, each with a different symbol in different colors. The hall was filled with noise, despite the strong metal, and the cries of the Pokemon would have made normal Trainers cringe.

The brown-haired girl would have most certainly started shouting in protest if she had still been awake.

As Ash walked by a door with a yellow lightning bolt, something on the other side let out a loud scream. It wouldn't have sounded like anything in particular if the hearer couldn't understand Pokemon, but some did know.

Ash certainly knew. The Pokemon was screaming his name with a vengeance.

_"Ash! Break loose! I know you can!" _

Ash stopped suddenly and gripped his chest as he doubled over and gritted his teeth.

The Lake Spirits turned and looked back at him. The girl didn't fall from the lack of attention, however.

Ash noticed them looking and glared up at them. "I'm fine," he hissed as he stood upright. "Let's keep moving."

He walked past the Lake Spirits and onto a glowing, dark blue panel. The three Legendary Pokemon followed after him with the girl.

When Ash stepped off the panel's other end, he walked over to stand in front of a desk and stood ramrod straight with his arms at his sides. The Lake Spirits appeared not long after and moved to hover next to the warp panel.

The man behind the desk gave Ash an indifferent look. "Report."

"We've got the last kid who came through," Ash stated. He didn't bother to look back at the three Pokemon that were holding the girl. "She broke Dark Giratina minutes after I found her."

The figure behind the desk suddenly looked interested. "And the Pokemon she had used?"

"A Rayquaza." Ash gave a sneer. "She was willing to sacrifice herself for it. Can you believe that?"

"I can." The figure behind the desk turned his head and looked out over the dark area in front of the tower through a large window. His blue eyes scanned the area in front of the mountains' bases, but didn't see the large green dragon. "And you let them get away, you foolish boy."

Ash shrugged, but his face showed that he was oddly nervous - especially since it actually showed in his red eyes. "I was going to let them get a head start so I could hunt them down, that's all."

"Boy, you have to get them when you get the chance, not so that you can gain the thrill of the hunt," the man snapped.

Ash bowed his head. "Sorry, Master. It won't happen again."

Ash's master scoffed. "See to it." He looked at the Lake Spirits. "Bring her to me."

The Darkened Legendaries wordlessly came forward with the girl, coming to a stop next to Ash. The man behind the desk got up and walked over to the girl in order to inspect her more closely.

Ash's gaze moved with the man, watching him as he observed the girl's face and her clothing. For a second, his eyes flickered to brown, but they returned to red just as quickly.

"She may look like the one I am searching for, but this isn't her," Master growled, stepping away from the girl. "And every single child has already been taken from that place. She must have learned of me and found a way to avoid me."

"Then your enemy would come, wouldn't she?" Ash pointed out. "You said yourself that she wouldn't want anyone to suffer."

"The child has connections," the Master replied. "I doubt that she would leave this world undefended." He turned and looked out the window again, his gaze going over the three sphere-like items that hung from the walls like trophies.

Well, one of them wasn't going to be of much use to him anymore, considering that the corresponding Pokemon had left his sight.

"Take her down to the Chamber," the Master stated without looking over at Ash. "She can still be of some use to us, at least."

Ash bowed, then turned and started for the warp panel as the Lake Spirits followed, but then a loud screech was heard from somewhere outside of the building.

A blast of cold air came in through the ventilation system - which had been previously cycling lukewarm air - and, at the same time, the window the Master had been looking through completely shattered.

A wall of snow rammed into the room, covering the floor and swirling around Ash and the Lake Spirits in small tornados. The girl dropped into the snow and lay on her side.

Ash paused as the snow enveloped him. He felt something wrenching at his heart from somewhere outside of the building.

The boy heard something crack, and instantly the snow died. A red dust moved across his vision before it dissipated in a shower of sparks.

Red eyes flickered brown again for just a moment, and they moved when Ash heard something - no, _three_ _someones_ - yawn almost instantly.

Mesprit stretched out her limbs as the dark magenta part of her head flickered back to a more friendly pinkish. _"Thanks, Arctic! We really needed that."_

Azelf also stretched, bending back as though aiming to get a nice crack from his back. His dark purple head flashed back to a bright blue._ "Nice touch, breaking the window like that."_ He looked over at Uxie and grinned. _"You want to do your thing?"_

Uxie's tails moved around to the front of his head and brushed a clump of snow off the red jewel on his forehead while his green head lightened into a friendly yellow. _"No. Now is not the right time for it. Deserve it though he does, there are other things to attend to."_

Below them, the teenager started to stir. As she started to get up on her hands and knees and notice the man who was watching everything with a blank look on his face, Mesprit flew down and touched the girl lightly on the shoulder.

_"Sleep," _the Legendary murmured._ "You will need the rest."_

The girl collapsed into the snow again without saying a word.

Azelf snorted, still looking at Uxie. _"Well, if you won't use it on him, we can at least get the kid out of here."_ He flew down to the girl and grabbed her shirt.

Ash got into a defensive stance, red crystals starting to form on his arms. "Don't you dare. You've got nothing from stopping me changing you back."

Azelf looked over at the boy's arms, his eyes widening. The Legendary quickly backed away from the girl and exchanged glances with Mesprit.

Uxie placed his paws on his fellow Lake Spirits' shoulders._ "There is another way."_

There was a bright flash, and the three were gone.

Ash dropped his arms, and the red crystals disappeared into dust.

The Master looked at the place the three Legendaries had been for a moment longer, then looked over at Ash. "There was a Legendary here, and you didn't sense it?" The man's voice was somewhat strained from use of emotion.

"My focus was on my objective, Master," came Ash's reply. He looked down and nudged the brown-haired girl with a shoe, but she didn't move. "What should I do with her?"

"Do what I told you previous to the attack: take her down to the Chamber." The Master turned and looked at the shattered opening that had once been a window. "I doubt that the Legendary who did this is still nearby. Neither are the Pokemon that belong to this girl."

He turned and looked back at Ash. "No matter. There is a chance we can use her to track them later."

Ash gave a nod and started to reach down towards the girl, but paused.

A moment later, the boy stiffened, and his arms slammed against his sides as his eyes violently changed from red to brown - an angry brown.

At the same time, rings of red crystals formed around the boy's chest, waist, and legs, keeping his arms and legs in place.

A snarl formed on Ash's face as he glared at the man he was forced to call Master. "You've got to stop! You're tearing our world apart!"

"It's my world, boy, not yours," the man sneered in reply.

"It's the Pokemon's world, too! What makes you think they're enjoying this as much as you are, huh?! I know Giratina wasn't - and Pikachu -"

"You will NOT speak that creature's name in my presence!"

"Pikachu is HATING it!" Ash roared, ignoring the man's order. "EVERYBODY IS!"

"You are going to pay for your insolence, boy," the man growled, starting forwards.

"No. You are." Ash raised his voice again, looking out the window. "I'M STEERING CLEAR! YOU CAN HAVE HIM WHENEVER YOU WANT!"

The man turned sharply in order to see who Ash might have been talking to, but a bright red flash caught his attention before he had even fully turned around.

Glancing back, he saw that the red crystals were gone, and that Ash was calmly picking up the girl and throwing her over his shoulder.

Red eyes looked over at the Master with a blank stare, the last dredges of anger disappearing from Ash's face.

Without another word spoken between them, Ash turned and walked over to the warp panel and out of sight.

The Master glared after the boy, then turned and grabbed a phone-like device off his desk, not particularly caring about the cold glass shards. Pressing a number, he promptly held it to his ear.

I need a crew to replace my window, and five others to search the area. The Legendary who attacked me may not have gotten far."

_::Understood, sir. We're moving out::_

**Time Break**

"The Master wants her conformed pronto?"

Ash gave an annoyed sigh. "I believe that was implied?" He sounded like he was annoyed with the man in the lab coat in front of him. "Now are you going to take this kid or not?"

The scientist swallowed and carefully grabbed the girl and moved her off Ash's shoulder. If he was at all surprised that the teenager had managed to carry his burden into his working quarters, he didn't show it, even when he had difficulty carrying the girl on his shoulder.

"It may not work," the scientist warned as he started to turn to face the largest machine in the room. "It's been overheating because of repeated usage on those two -"

"Just do it," Ash replied shortly. "I already have someone who could take over as an overseer for the girl."

The scientist's green eyes widened, and he turned around fully and walked over to a conveyor belt that had metal bands strapped to it. He dropped the girl on the belt with a thud, then strapped the metal bands over her arms, legs, and waist. "Maybe this will last a little longer, if the effect stays on our other subjects."

"Does it look like I care?" Ash replied. "I've been telling you guys that you should just use me on them and save you the trouble."

"The effect it had on you is...questionable at best." The scientist moved to a collection of controls mounted to the side of an alien-looking machine in the middle of the conveyor belt, completely covering the moving device from view.

"We're lucky this is working with our upgrades," he muttered under his breath. "It's good machinery, despite being made by a Pokemon..."

"You don't need to tell me," Ash snapped, his eyes flashing a deeper red. "I was there, you idiot. Remember?"

The scientist let out a sigh. "So they tell me." He pulled a lever, and the machine started up with a rickety hum that deepened to a roar. The conveyor belt began moving with a start, then more smoothly.

As the girl passed the scientist, she grumbled something in her sleep. He didn't catch what she had said, but took it to mean that she might be waking up soon.

As soon as the subject was out of sight, the scientist pressed a blinking red button on the control panel, then turned to look at Ash. "There."

_"Not quite."_

Ash turned his head upon hearing the familiar telepathic voice. His red eyes zoomed in on a blue head peering up from the other side of the machine, grinning like some madman.

"What are you still doing here?" Ash demanded, glaring at the Pokemon. "Your friend had the better idea and left."

Azelf chuckled. _"You have no idea as what he says is a good idea, Ash of Pallet Town."_ He ducked down for a moment, and the scientist and Ash heard something slam. _"There. Time to go." _The Legendary Pokemon cackled, then disappeared in the flash of a Teleport.

And then everything that could go wrong went wrong.

There was a loud, spluttering cough from the machine, and all the buttons and levers on the control panel were suddenly pressed down at once. The entire thing started to smoke and shudder before sparks stated to fly.

The scientist took a step back. "Uh oh." He looked over at Ash. "We need to get a couple mechanics now."

"You go," Ash replied shortly. "I'm going to make sure the kid is still of some use." He dashed for the smoking machine while the scientist ran in the opposite direction.

When Ash reached the machine's exit end, he peered into the smoking opening.

When his red eyes didn't find the head of the girl, he cursed under his breath and jumped onto the conveyor belt - which was still moving, although much more slowly than it was supposed to. The minionized Trainer **[a/n: Hah! New word!] **got under his hands and knees and slipped into the exit seconds before his red eyes started to glow eerily as he looked for the girl they had sent in.

Ash ran into her almost immediately, and saw that the girl was still intact, even though there were exposed sparking wires above her and it looked like have of the braces had already been torn to shreds. Moving quickly in the smoky environment, he easily tore the remaining two braces off her wrist and waist before dragging the girl out by her arms. He managed to get out, coughing for air, just as the conveyor belt died.

Ash stumbled off the belt as two men wearing tool belts dashed in, followed by the scientist, who was looking much more nervous than usual. And behind him...

...was the Master.

Ash dropped the girl on the tile floor and stood fully upright, ignoring the mechanics who were starting to work on the machine and try to find the source of the smoke.

"What happened?" the Master demanded, looking between the scientist and Ash.

"Sabotage," the scientist replied quickly, looking terrified. "It happened right in front of our eyes."

"Explain." Master looked at Ash.

"Azelf decided to enact a bit of revenge," Ash replied stiffly. "He made himself known after the girl had been out through." He looked down at the girl lying at his feet. "He might have prevented her from conforming properly. Or at all." His red gaze returned to the Master. "You know I can remedy that."

The Master inclined his head, then looked down at the girl at Ash's feet.

"Sir!" one of the mechanics ran over and stood next to Ash, then respectfully took a step away from the teenager. "The wiring was cut and rewired in several places, and there was a strange energy signature that matched the gemstones."

The Master's eyes narrowed. "Any trace of the Pokemon?"

"None, sir."

Ash's blank face morphed into something of a meaningful look, but whatever the teen was implying was ignored.

"Take the girl to the Nurse Joy squadron," the Master ordered, looking over at Ash. "Then go out to the PokeBall Graveyard and start tracking those Pokemon you let escape."

The meaningful look morphed into a blank expression. "Understood." He reached down and grabbed the girl again before throwing her up over one shoulder.

As Ash walked out of the Chamber, the Master turned to face the scientist and the mechanics. "Disconnect the Conformer and have it scrapped. If we cannot find her, then she must come to us."

Ash's face became a sinister grin. "And she most certainly will."

**Oooh, boy. Something's definitely up with Ash, there. And you can all guess who the "Master" guy is, right? I don't think I made that too hard.**


	4. Psychic Surprise

**And we're back - and with a chapter from the Pokemon side of things! If you can remember the original chapter that involved these Pokemon, then know that things got moved around.**

**Disclaimer: If I DID own Pokemon, I wouldn't have made Mewtwo sound like a girl in the Genesect movie. But I don't own them.**

**Oh well.**

**Chapter 3 - Psychic Surprise**

"Chaos! We have to stop for a rest!"

The Mewtwo paused, then placed his foot down and looked back at the other Pokemon that were following after him. He then looked down at the Electric-Type who had spoken, who did look tired.

_"Rayquaza has already gone off his own way for a safe haven,"_ Chaos stated._ "We must keep moving if we're to remain ahead of Team Galactic."_

_"While you speak the truth, Chaos, these Pokemon are not quite used to the pace which you force us to travel at,"_ Aurora spoke up from where she hovered next to Swamp. _"We must find a hollow or a cluster of trees to rest at before continuing in this direction."_

"We don't even know where we're going," Linoone added. "If we did, I would've run ahead like Rayquaza."

Chaos gained an annoyed expression, and he let out an annoyed sigh. _"Fine. We will find a place to rest."_

The Pokemon started to look around for an area that might provide temporary shelter.

"There!" Swamp pointed towards a clump of dark green bushes that was located nearby. Aurora nodded, then started forward. The rest of the Pokemon followed after the Mew, with Chaos taking up the rear guard.

The clump of dark green turned out to be a circle of stunted bushes around a shallow area that dipped down enough for Swamp to remain out of sight if he lay down. Which was what he and the rest of Khrista's team did as soon as they reached the hollow.

Chaos set himself down carefully so that he could lie on his side on one edge of the hollow so that he could look out over the edge of the bushes in the way they had come. Aurora landed on Swamp's head and kept a similar watch in a different direction.

"So, where are we going?" Vapor suddenly spoke up.

Chaos looked over in the Vaporeon's direction; the Pokemon was lying curled next to the Swampert. _"We are looking for a group of Pokemon and humans who I found some time ago. It will take some time to find their location, but I am aware that it is in this general direction."_ He motioned in the direction he had been leading the group in.

"What makes you think they'll help us?" Raichu asked. "Everybody who doesn't have a Trainer from another world is going to be following that madman like a lost Poocheyna!"

"Or a Growlithe," Vapor muttered.

_"Not everyone was so enamored after him after events on Mt. Coronet,"_ Aurora spoke up, looking in the direction of a taller, darker mountain that rose up into the dark clouds on the horizon. _"Some humans and their Pokemon managed to escape into different safe zones that were set up in case of a situation like this. If they managed to find one of the safe zones, then there may be a chance -"_

"A chance for what?"

All of the Pokemon instantly froze upon hearing the voice coming from the bushes, and they quickly scrambled to their feet in order to see where it was coming from.

"Whoa!"

One of the bushes shook, and a moment later a small brown-and-white Pokemon was lifted out of the bush by a Psychic move.

Aurora flew forward, eyes narrow in suspicion while Chaos held the Eevee in place. _"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"_

"M-my name's Grace," the Eevee stammered, wide-eyed and panicked. "I was heading back from a...a scouting mission when I heard you guys talking. I got curious, okay?!"

The Pokemon exchanged glances, the members of Khrista's team frowning somewhat. "Grace sounds familiar," Linoone muttered.

"Yeah...I think that was one of the names of the other Avatars we heard about," Swamp remarked, nodding.

One of the Eevee's ears twitched, and she blinked as she cocked her head.

"Avatars? Are you guys Pokemon that belong to a Trainer?"

_"I would suggest you tell us what is your reason for eavesdropping before you ask us any questions,"_ Chaos replied, eyes narrowing.

"Okay, okay..." Grace still looked somewhat nervous, but not as much as she had been before. "I just finished a Mystery Dungeon run when I heard you guys talking at the exit."

The Pokemon exchanged glances upon hearing this.

"Yes, we're a Trainer's Pokemon," Vapor spoke up. "At least, except for those two." He motioned with a paw towards Chaos and Aurora. "I am Vapor."

Grace gave a nod, then looked over at Chaos. "Can you let me down, now?"

The Mewtwo gave a slight frown, then a reluctant nod and slowly lowered the Eevee to the ground.

When the Psychic energy left her form, Grace shook out her fur and looked up at the Pokemon.

"You all look like trustworthy Pokemon," Grace remarked. "And, I mean, you don't see Legendaries with their natural colors around anymore." She looked up at Chaos and Aurora, who exchanged glances. "Besides, I was supposed to come back with some sort of news or recruits."

_"We have news for you."_

All of the Pokemon stiffened. Chaos and Aurora looked up sharply, eyes scanning the skies for the source of the telepathic voice.

_"Relax, Chaos,"_ said another voice. _"We're friends now. I can't say for when we last saw you..."_

_"What has passed, has passed. Do not dwell on it."_

_"If you say so, Merlin..."_

Above the hollow, two Pokemon materialized - both mostly white with two tails, but one had a pink head, and the other had a yellow one.

Chaos' eyes widened, and he took a step back in surprise. _"Merlin? Lien?"_

_"Greetings, Chaos,"_ the Uxie stated. _"I am glad we were able of meet under these circumstances, and not otherwise."_

"What happened?" Raichu asked, frowning. "Last time you were out here, you were with...well, him."

_"Arctic decided to make her move,"_ Merlin replied.

_"And for that, we are thankful," _Lien added. She started to look around. _"Merlin, where is Jewels? He promised he would meet us as soon as he was done."_

There was a flash, and a certain blue Lake Spirit materialized, grinning.

_"It's done,"_ Jewels stated. _"We've got a free agent in there."_

_"And the machine itself?"_ Merlin pressed.

The Azelf mimicked something exploding. _"We won't have to worry about him pulling people through anymore."_ The grin that had taken over his face suddenly faded._ "But it means White might not come through."_

_"Her friends from her world have been brought here, most likely,"_ Lien pointed out._ "She will not wait around to help them."_

Grace's eyes widened as she looked up at the trio. _"What are you talking about? And is White really from our world?"_

_"She is,"_ Merlin replied with a nod._ "And as for what we speak of...let's just say that the man who has been causing us trouble may start having trouble of his own from the inside - from our good friend known as Khrista."_

_"Khrista?"_ Linoone repeated in surprise. _"Really?"_ His tail started to wag furiously.

_"Truly,"_ Lien replied._ "Spread the word in your own way. We will go in ours. There are other havens to visit and speak to."_

She looked to the other Lake Spirits and gave a nod. A moment later, the three teleported out of sight.

Chaos frowned._ "Something strange is going on here. First Khrista sacrifices herself, now the Lake Spirits are freed..."_ He looked over at Aurora. _"Is this your doing?"_

_"Not mine,"_ the Mew replied. _"I no longer have that kind of power, remember?_" She looked over at Grace. _"Where is the haven that you are a part of?"_

The Eevee - who had been looking up at where the Lake Spirits had been with wide eyes - looked over at Aurora. After blinking for a minute, she realized what the Mew had just asked of her and broke out into a wide grin.

"This way!" Grace exclaimed, dashing out of the hollow and onto the plain. The rest of the Pokemon quickly followed, Swamp demolishing a patch of bushes on his way out.

Within minutes, the area - other than the demolished bushes - didn't look like it had been touched.

**There! Kinda short, but you can kinda-sorta see how this may end up going for the next few Pokemon-side chapters.**


	5. Dreamscape, Part 1

**Hello again! We're back - and with a Khrista 1st-person perspective!**

**Chapter 4 - Dreamscape, Part 1 (Khrista's POV)**

This is just plain freaky.

One minute, I'm playing my DS, minding my own business while I'm demolishing every single Rocket grunt in sight, and the next I'm standing in some region where Cyrus has taken over - and maybe not just there, either.

Then I get knocked out, the next thing I know I'm lying somewhere cold, and then I'm knocked out again.

Now I'm stuck in a house that looks eerily like mine - except it's way too clean, the doors and windows won't open, my parents aren't here (but their bedroom door's locked) and all I can see outside is pure black.

No street lights, no moon...no lights from across the street, either. The Carlsdales usually stay up until ten - the older ones, anyway - and the digital clock Mom hung up in the kitchen hasn't even reached eight.

Eight. In. The. Morning.

What in heaven's name is going on here?!

I was brooding with these thoughts in my head when I heard the front door creak open. I knew it was the front door because it always creaks.

So of course I jumped off the couch in the family room and dashed down the hall for the front door. As soon as I got there, though, I screeched to a halt.

You would, too, if you saw Ash Ketchum - in the _anime's Sinnoh outfit _- closing the front door behind him.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Ash turned and caught sight of me staring wide-eyed (and, admittedly, fearfully) at him. His _brown_ eyes widened in surprise.

Wait. _Brown?!_

"His eyes were red before," I muttered under my breath, frowning at my white shoes. "Why aren't they now?"

"Did you really think I was going to take after my brother?"

I looked up at Ash in surprise, who was giving me a half-smile that didn't quite look like it was natural. What's the saying..."didn't meet his eyes"?

"Brother?" I repeated, frowning. "You know, Red? The guy on top of Mt. Silver?" Ash walked past me and down the hall into the family room, looking around with some interest.

"Red's you're _brother?"_ Well. I followed after him to make sure he didn't actually mess with anything. "I guess I can see a resemblance, though. Somewhat."

"Most of the people I ran into didn't really notice." Ash collapsed on the couch I had been sitting on moments before. "And most people try to punch me first for dragging them here under orders." His voice took on a bitter tone when he finished off.

Oh, yeah. The Red Chain thing.

"Mewtwo told me," I stated, sitting down in my dad's favorite armchair. "About what happened on Mt. Coronet." I remembered a second later that Mewtwo's real name was Chaos, but Ash had already started to respond by then.

Ash's face scrunched up. "Yeah. That." His eyes narrowed at the memory, and he shook his head. "Since you already know, I'm not going to tell you from my perspective." He looked around the room again, then paused when he caught sight of something.

A minute later, he was standing next to the glass coffee table in the middle of the room and inspecting my red DS Lite.

"Is this that DS thing that those games are played on?" Ash asked, looking over at me curiously.

"Uh...yeah." I stood up myself and walked over. "I was playing Platinum before I got sent to your world."

Ash's eyes widened in interest, and he put the DS back down. "OK, so you do play the Trainer games."

"Um...yeah?" I frowned. "Does this have anything to do with what's going on?" I motioned to the room around us, thinking that might be proof enough.

"And why I'm back in my house but my parents aren't here?"

"You're not home," Ash replied, lifting a finger. "This is a dreamscape."

I opened my mouth. "Then what -"

"I'll get to that later. The reason you're here is more important at the moment." Ash walked back to the couch and sat down, then patted the cushion next to him. "This is going to take all night, trust me."

I gave him a weird look, then walked over to the couch and sat down so that there was a cushion between us. "So, what's going on?"

Ash let out a sigh, then took off his baseball cap and stared at it. "From what I picked up from Charon talking about his project, ever since White started her journey in Kanto, there have been random teams of Pokemon appearing all over the place. And they're usually led by a shade of some sort that looks like a basic Trainer of sorts. Some are Battle Girls, others are Ace Trainers - you get the idea."

I nodded. So they _did_ have specific Trainer classes here.

I frowned slightly when I heard the name White again, but Ash saw it before I could say anything.

"I'm getting to her," the Trainer stated, holding up a hand to keep my question at bay.

I held up my hands. "OK, fine. So what's with the ghosts?"

"Basically, these Avatars, as people have taken to calling them, are members of your world who found the games. I only found out about them when I went to Tate and Liza's Gym though, because I apparently had a large group following me." Ash shrugged.

"You mean you couldn't see them?"

Ash shook his head. "Only Psychics can, and White isn't exactly a psychic, so she didn't know about them, either. See, she's from your world, too, but she managed to actually get to our planet."

I blinked. "Wait. _What?"_

"You didn't hear about that?" Ash frowned.

I shook my head. "No. I didn't even think that she could come from our planet. How's that even possible?"

The Trainer shrugged. "Don't look at me. Charon was the one who did all the math and stuff. He was ordered to hunt down White, not me."

"Hunt her down? But isn't she already in your world?"

"Not anymore. She disappeared after everything in Sinnoh died down and Team Galactic had scattered. People thought she had gone back, so Charon started making some sort of giant portal so that he could hunt her down."

Oh. I blinked. "But how did she leave?"

"None of us know. Charon might, but he hasn't said anything about it when I'm around." Ash sighed. "Anyway, Charon got ordered to hunt down White and he ended up dragging through a large number of the Avatars instead."

He placed his hat back on his head and pulled down on the brim. "You were kind of a last-ditch effort in order to get White, but since she didn't come through, I can only hope that she's not in her home. Maybe she'll hear about the disappearing kids and come and rescue everybody."

I blinked. "Wow. All this for some girl who might be living in my neighborhood? Cyrus is _insane_."

Ash flinched. "Don't say his name, whatever you do," he warned darkly. "He did some sort of voodoo so that nobody under him can say it."

I frowned. "Well, I just did, didn't I?"

"Which only confirms what I already figured out." Ash pointed at me. "You didn't get conformed like the other kids."

"What?"

"Uh...Brainwashed."

I was instantly on the alert. "_Brainwashed?_ Was that what was going on when we passed those kids in the hallway before I got knocked out?"

"Sorta." Ash looked a little nervous and started to rub the back of his neck. "See, there's this machine that was found and put back together the way...well, the way _he_ wanted. First kid that came through -" Ash made a swooshing noise as his arm shot forward. "Into the machine he goes. He came out the other end with the same blank look I've been giving everybody else."

Ash gained a concerned look. "Pretty much everybody's ended up like that, even when they fought back against getting strapped down. I would have thought that half of them would have had a chance, but..." He shook his head again.

This was starting to sound like it was part of some sort of horror show or something. I gained a disgusted look.

"These guys are sick," I declared. "If only I could wring Charon's neck."

"Believe me, I've been trying."

I looked at Ash in surprise. "You? How? You've got that -" I paused, considering whether I should say the name of the device that had Ash under Cyrus' control.

"Yeah." Ash's face scrunched up in anger, but then a sinister grin snuck over his face. "But the thing is, the Red Chain wasn't exactly made to control humans."

"Well, yeah, they were going after Dialga and Palkia, but -"

"I mean, it _never_ was." Ash looked me straight in the eye. "And it's because of that that I can jump into other people's heads at night and talk to them...or give them nightmares." His grin strengthened, and this time it _did_ reach his eyes.

"You've sound like you've done it before," I noted.

"Eh. On and off. But definitely enough to make them look at me like I'm Darkrai spawn or something. He's going to be bothering _him_ now, though, so hopefully that might do something. That's not the only thing I can do, though." Ash's smile faded to a half-smile.

"Oh?"

"If I can build up enough emotion, I can break loose for a minute and give people a piece of my mind - and I mean really, since I've only been able to make snarky comments when I've been spoken to."

Whoa. "I bet they think you're more volatile that way."

"Probably." Ash got up from the couch. "It's technically almost dawn. I'm going to have to head back before someone comes in and yells at me to wake up."

That was abrupt. But -

"How can you tell?"

"I have my ways." Ash turned and started down the hall towards the front door - which, I guess, means that it's his exit back to his own place. Wait.

"Hey - you didn't explain about that dreamscape thing!"

Ash paused at the door, his eyes widening, and he slapped himself in the forehead. "Right! I completely forgot about that."

Looking over at me, he stated, "A dreamscape is basically a place that represents your mind. For some reason, though, you Avatars didn't really know they existed."

"Um...I think that may be because we usually don't remember what we dream."

"Well, that's going to change." Ash opened up my front door and started to step out into the black void. "Because these dreamscapes aren't going to leave you alone here."

With that abrupt statement, he fully stepped out of the house and closed the front door behind him.

What felt like seconds later, a loud beeping noise filled the house and gave me a pounding headache. The house started to go out of focus.

I realized that I was about to wake up.

**Different look into what exactly goes on in people's heads at night, huh?**

**What do you guys think I should do with the dreamscapes? I've only got one other dreamscape with Ash (and a few others besides...), so if you guys have any ideas as other things I can do in these places, they would be appreciated!**

**See you next time!**


	6. New Living Quarters

**Another weekend, another chapter - here's what happens after Khrista wakes up!**

**And there's a character redesign thanks to what Cyrus did - you'll find it in the first few paragraphs.**

**Chapter 5 - New Living Quarters**

Khrista's eyes snapped open with a flash of annoyance in them as the loud beeping pounded right into her left ear. She reacted by moving her left arm in order to find the source of the beeping, but found that she couldn't move it. The same went for the rest of her except for her head, which she promptly turned so that she could glare at the source of the beeping - which turned out to be just a speaker, unfortunately.

Fortunately, as soon as Khrista started to glare at it, the beeping stopped, and the room she was in became filled with blessed silence.

At least, until another voice spoke up.

"Good, you're awake."

Khrista turned her head again, and caught sight of a small man with blue hair and glasses standing not too far in front of her and the steel slab she was strapped to.

But it wasn't him that got most of her attention - it was the woman with purple hair and a short black nurse dress. She looked like a Goth version of a Nurse Joy.

"I was starting to wonder if I was just keeping an eye on some dead kid," the woman stated, sounding bored.

It scared Khrista out of her wits, and her eyes widened.

The man with the glasses - Charon, Khrista remembered now - shook his head at the woman's statement. "Really, dearie. You should remember that she came through without a single conforming effect. And I doubt that she is mute." He turned to look directly at Khrista. "How about we let her loose and see if she can do anything, eh?"

Khrista blinked in confusion. _Do anything? What's that supposed to mean?_

The Goth Joy scoffed. "The kid'll probably try to kill you as soon as I let her loose."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too worried." Charon motioned to something that was on the other side of the alarm speaker, then snapped his fingers.

As the Goth Joy moved to another area of the steel-gray room, another figure stepped out of a shadowy corner and stood stiffly next to Charon, who grinned at Khrista while her eyes widened even further in shock.

"Do you like him?" Charon asked, not bothering to look over at the tall, brown-haired teenage boy standing next to him with a slightly serious face. "He was the first one who came through, and probably the least intelligent, but he has still followed me around like my own personal bodyguard." The grin became crooked. "At least he knows someone important when he sees them."

Khrista couldn't believe her eyes - or the fact that she was staring into the blue ones of a neighbor she almost considered a brother.

_Matthew Carlsdale..._ Khrista swallowed. _Oh, man._

There was a creaking noise, and the straps that had been holding Khrista in place opened with a snap. She slid off the slab and rubbed her wrists just to make sure that she actually had circulation going through them. She watched the seventeen-year-old and the scientist warily, hoping that they wouldn't try and attack her.

"Looks like she's a Gentle Nature," Charon noted, pulling a clipboard out of nowhere and wrote something down. "Or maybe Cautious or Timid." He looked up at Matthew. "Do you know her, boy?"

"Yes," Matthew replied.

Khrista shuddered upon hearing his flat voice. And there was something about why Charon was asking that.

"Is she White?"

"No."

The answer came right on the heels of the question.

Charon frowned. "Then what is her name?"

Matthew blinked. "I don't remember."

Charon's frown became so vigorous that his face scrunched up, and he let out a low growl of annoyance.

Khrista backed up a step, her back hitting against the steel slab she had been attached to a moment before. Whatever Charon wanted to get out of Matthew, he definitely wasn't going to get it, and she was getting the feeling that he was going to use it for sinister purposes if he ever did.

Charon turned his attention away from Matthew and gave Khrista what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "There, you see? All of them act the same. They don't remember their own names, they don't have very much personality, but they do make very good bodyguards and listeners. I have high hopes that you will be joining them soon."

Khrista swallowed nervously again, then tried to steel herself as Charon went back to writing on his clipboard. _Come on, it's not like Matthew can snap your neck or anything. He didn't even break bones in other football players by accident._

Clenching her fists, Khrista stated in a bold voice, "Listen, Knucklehead, I'm not planning on getting turned into one of your goonies."

Charon looked up in surprise. A smile crossed his face. "Ah, she speaks! I was starting to wonder." He blinked, then frowned. "What did you call me?"

Khrista did her best to keep up her bold appearance, but she felt that it was starting to fade fast. "What makes you care?"

"I wouldn't talk to our head scientist like that, kid," Goth Joy sneered, coming back to stand next to Charon. "He can do nasty things to you if he doesn't get what he wants."

"Don't flatter me," the Galactic scientist replied, although he did look very pleased with himself.

Khrista almost completely lost her composure then, and she swallowed again and looked over at Matthew, who stared blankly at the wall in front of him.

This was definitely _not_ a good day.

"However, before I can do anything, I would have to check up with the head of Team Neo-Galactic," Charon spoke again, getting Khrista's attention as he looked over at the woman. "You know what he would say if I didn't."

Goth Joy looked a little nervous. "Right."

_Are they talking about Cyrus?_ Khrista wondered.

Charon returned his attention to Khrista. "Now, considering our present situation with the girl, we'll have to hold off on using her to find White until we have more control over her."

Now Khrista was starting to get irritated. "I'm right here, you know." Under her breath, she added, "Knucklehead."

She had picked up the nickname from a different TV show, and figured it fit this guy fit the name better than the original receiver.

"I know, but you don't warrant my attention until you're more on our side," Charon replied, looking down at his clipboard again. "And judging from the name-calling, I would think that you're not."

Khrista snorted, but shrank back when the Goth Joy took a step forward. The woman took a step back, then, smirking, and Khrista realized that the nurse had tried to intimidate her - and that it had worked.

"Definitely not a Clear Body type," Charon muttered, scribbling something on his clipboard.

Khrista blinked, then frowned. _Wait. Is he trying to place me as a Pokemon?_

She cautiously took a step forward, only to pause when Matthew's attention suddenly moved from the wall behind Khrista to the girl herself.

"Boy, do you know of anyone who presently does not have a roommate?" Charon inquired as he finished his writing with a flourish.

"One empty room. Subject J-4 is alone." Matthew never took his eyes off Khrista as he spoke.

"J-4?" Charon looked up at the boy. "He has been complacent, although pairing him with someone in a similar situation could cause problems."

He looked at Matthew for a moment longer as though expecting him to reply (which he didn't). Charon then looked over at Khrista. "Grab the girl. We'll take her to the empty room and leave her there for now."

Matthew stepped forward and grabbed Khrista's right arm before dragging her forward. The girl let out a yelp as she nearly lost her footing as Matthew followed the scientist out of the room.

Khrista looked around in confusion as she stumbled out into the hall, looking around in blank confusion at the blank white corridor. _How can these guys tell the walls from the floor and ceiling?_

Despite the blank corridors, Charon seemed to know his way around the place rather well. He led Matthew - who walked like he was some sort of robot - through the halls and over two warp panels before stopping in front of one of multiple steel doors that lined a dead-end corridor with four warp panels in four different colors on either end of the hall.

Charon opened the door and pushed if open, revealing a steel gray room with two bunk bed against the side walls. On the back wall was what looked like a sink and a toilet, but that was it.

Matthew released Khrista's arm and pushed her into the room; the girl let out a yelp of surprise and stumbled forward a couple steps before regaining her balance and turning around to look at the two figures.

"You will be seeing us soon," Charon said with a grin. A moment later, the steel door slammed shut.

Khrista remained staring at the cell door for a moment longer, then turned around and started looking around at the room itself. She started straight for the all at the back and ran her hand over it.

Cold metal. No cracks. It was the same on the other walls - at least, the parts of the walls she could get to. And even if she could slide her hands behind the bunk beds, there probably wouldn't be any cracks there, either.

Khrista let out an irritated sigh as she moved to the center of the room and put her hands on her hips. "Great. Looks like I won't be able to dig out or anything. Or find some sort of secret passage..."

She shook her head, then looked over at one of the bunk bed sets. A moment later, she was climbing to the upper bunk and lying down on the hard mattress.

"Guess I don't really have anything better to do than sleep," she muttered, turning on her side. "I just hope that it won't mess with me."

Spacial Break

Charon cautiously stepped off the warp panel and stood next to it, watching as the taller, also blue-haired figure looked up from something on his desk.

"Well?" the man asked calmly.

"She isn't conformed, as was predicted," Charon replied. "However, she is much more nervous than what I had originally expected her to be, considering who exactly we are."

"Is there any chance -"

"That she will conform on her own? Perhaps. However, I wouldn't count on it, considering that she seems to have picked up a few things." Charon paused. "Possibly from White herself."

"Explain."

"They're nicknames," Charon stated quickly. "One is centered on me, the other on you. She referred to me as 'Knucklehead' not long after she had awoken, and according to The Boy, she had called you -"

"I know. He told me, as well." The man got to his feet. "Where is she now?"

"Solitary confinement. It was better than putting her with J-4."

The taller figure paused before giving a slight nod of approval. "Good. Leave here there for now. Watch the security cameras and alert me to a time when I may see her myself."

Charon blinked, then gave a nod. "Of course." He gave the man what might have passed as a curious look. "Is there anything else?"

"No. I will inform you if I have need of you."

As Charon stepped out of the office via the warp panel, the man looked out the newly repaired window as he considered what had occurred.

A child who knew two nicknames was not something to be worried about.

It was how she came across them that was another matter...

**Well, it looks like there's something going on, all right.**

**And the kid from the prologue is a boy from Khrista's street - he shows up at the end of the revamped Disney Kingdom story I'm working on posting.**

**If you can guess how he's related to other characters in my other series - whether it's right or wrong - I'll let you show up in a camo as either a Pokemon or an Avatar! (Just make sure you give me a preference in the reviews for my own notes :).)**

**And the only reason that's popping up is either to get you guys to read my other stuff or to see if you guys can remember from my other stores. Besides, I want someone else in order to fill out my group.**


	7. The Underground, part 1

**And we're back with the Pokemon portion of the story!**

**If any of you are going to wonder about why I'm posting a chapter early, it's because I'm on Spring Break and I thought I'd post an extra chapter this week for a double special!**

**So, enjoy!**

**Chapter 6 - The Underground, part 1**

Chaos was starting to get anxious.

Grace had been leading them along the empty plains that used to be the route between Twinleaf and Sandgem, and they still had yet to find what she had called the entrance of "the Underground." Where that was - or what kind of haven it was - had yet to be seen.

_"How long before we arrive at this destination of yours, Grace?"_ the Mewtwo asked the Eevee trotting ahead of the group. _"The plains are not a place I would recommend staying out on for long."_

"Don't worry," Grace called back as she glanced over a furry collar. "It's not much further." Looking ahead of her, the Pokemon added, "In fact, it should be over this next hill."

The Pokemon quickly climbed the rise Grace had mentioned, then paused when they reached the top to look down at where they were going.

Below, in a dull, flaking state, was a familiar red roof of a Pokemon Center, sitting among the remains of what had been a couple houses and a small grove of trees.

"A Pokemon Center?" Linoone asked, cocking his head.

"Not just any Pokemon Center," Swamp rumbled. "That's Sandgem's Pokemon Center." He looked over at Chaos. "How is it that it's still standing?"

_"...I do not know," _Chaos replied. _"All of the Nurse Joys were rounded up after the...events of Mt. Coronet and Cyrus's erection of his lair. He may have left this one standing because he forgot to remove it."_

_"It isn't possible for him to forget,"_ Aurora spoke up. The Mew flew up from where she had been hiding on Swamp's back and hovered next to the Mewtwo's shoulder. _"Not after those events. He knows the locations of spacially cemented solids like buildings. I doubt he would have missed this one."_

"He's been ignoring this one," Grace replied without looking back at the two Legendaries. "Either that, or his goons have been making excuses because the place is haunted by Ghost-Types."

Linoone, Vapor, and Raichu exchanged glances upon hearing this, while Swamp's gaze turned into a frown as he looked down at the Pokemon Center.

"Those Ghost-Types must be strong in order to hold their own against them," the Swampert noted. "We may have a problem reaching this entrance you spoke of."

Grace shook her head quietly, then took off down the hill at a decent trot.

"Hey, kid!" Vapor yelled after her. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Going to the entrance," Grace called back. "Come on!"

The group of Pokemon looked at each other upon hearing the Eevee's calm statement.

"That kid is going to get herself in trouble running into a crowd of Ghost-Types like that," Vapor muttered, his mermaid-tail twitching in annoyance. He started forward. "I'm going to go after her."

"I will, too," Linoone spoke up. "I may only know Normal and Fighting-Type attacks, but that Eevee might want a Pokemon to protect her from Dark or Poison attacks." He followed after the Vaporeon, quickly catching up with him.

_"Those two are going to get into trouble,"_ Chaos noted with a shake of his head.

"It's not them that should be worried about," Swamp replied. He gave Raichu a pointed look, and the Electric Pokemon shrugged helplessly with a sheepish look on her face.

_"All the same, it would be best if we stayed together,"_ Aurora replied. The Mew then started forward and the other Pokemon - after exchanging their own wary glances - followed after the small Legendary.

When they reached the entrance of the Pokemon Center, the group found that the glass doors had been kicked in and taken a long time ago, and Grace was standing on top of the counter while Vapor and Linoone were standing in front of it, looking around warily for anyone that might try to sneak up on them.

And relaxing on an old machine that had been used by Nurse Joys countless times to restore a Pokemon team's health was a Gengar.

"See?" Grace motioned with a paw towards the Pokemon that were cautiously filing through the entrance. "I'm not lying. I found Chaos and Aurora. Now can you open the trapdoor?"

The mischievous-looking Ghost/Poison-Type glanced over at the Pokemon that had come in, and it's eyes widened. The lazy Cheshire-cat grin that had been on its face turned into a look that clearly spoke of fear and surprise. The Gengar quickly scrambled to his feet, looking from Pokemon to Pokemon as though it wasn't believing its eyes.

"This has _got_ to be some illusion," the Gengar muttered.

_"This is_ not _an illusion," _Aurora replied.

_"We are here, in the flesh,"_ Chaos added._ "And we have news to give to those you may be giving shelter to."_

The Gengar looked somewhat uncertain. "How is it that they haven't found you yet?"

_ "Where do you think the Jhoto trio has been hiding?"_ came Chaos' reply. The Mew next to him gave the Mewtwo a warning look, but it was ignored. _"We only came down when another was called through. We have news that she is the last one through."_

The Gengar suddenly became alert. "It isn't -"

"No, it's not," Swamp spoke up. "She never came through."

The Gengar let out a sigh of relief - which was surprising for a Ghost-Type - and collapsed on top of the machine again. "Good. I'd be terrified if they actually managed to catch my Trainer like I've been hearing for the others."

"_Your_ Trainer?" Raichu repeated in surprise. She took a few steps forward. "Are you saying that _White_ is your Trainer?"

"Yeah." The Gengar jumped off the machine and landed in front of the Electric-Type. "You want to make something of it, mouse?"

Raichu took a step back, paws up in surrender. "No."

The Gengar took a step back. "Good." He looked up at Chaos. "I wasn't on the team when she went after you in the Unknown Dungeon, but she mentioned you a couple times."

_"I'm afraid that I cannot say the same,"_ Chaos replied, looking down at the Pokemon. _"What did she call you?"_

"I was traded over when a kid didn't really want to work with Ghost-Types anymore. He didn't call me anything, but White ignored that and called me Geetz."

The Gengar motioned for the group to follow him, then turned and started walking down a hallway that was lit only by a flickering LED light that looked like it was about to go out at any minute. The rest of the group followed after him, Grace leading the way.

"You mentioned a trapdoor," Swamp remarked, looking down at the Eevee in front of them.

One of Grace's ears twitched. "Yeah. It's the only way down to the Underground form here. Geetz and his clan of Haunter and Ghastly have been keeping nosy people away if they've got the Goon symbol on their chest."

"Goon?" Raichu blinked.

"You know," Linoone replied. "Galactic?"

"'Goon' is a nickname White coined back in the beginning," Vapor explained. "I remember hearing about it from other Trainers after it happened."

"Exactly," Geetz called back.

The group reached the end of the hall, which quickly opened up into a dim room that looked like it had once been a place to store medicines and food supplies. Only now, the only thing that sat in the room was a wooden trap door in the center of the floor.

Geetz turned and looked at the group. "OK. Normally, I'd stick my head through and let the guard know somebody's back, but I think this time someone should try and open it up. Who's strong enough?"

Vapor, Linoone, and Raichu looked at each other before looking up at Swamp, who eyed the smaller Pokemon indifferently before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Very well." The Swampert started forward, then gripped the iron ring that lay on top of the trap door.

He started to lift it, but it didn't come up far enough for even Grace to fit through the thin opening. However, it was wide enough for an annoyed - or alarmed - voice to come through.

"Who's there?" a teenage boy's voice demanded. "Name yourselves, or I'll sic my Crobat on you!"

"It's me, Grace!" Grace replied, bounding over to the opening. She didn't notice that the two Legendaries - or the four regular Pokemon for that matter - had surprised looks on their faces.

"I'm back from scouting in a Mystery Dungeon, and I've brought a few new Pokemon!" Grace continued.

"New Pokemon? Are you sure they can be trusted?"

Before Grace could respond to this, Chaos stepped forward and said something himself.

_"Brock? Is that you?"_

The trapdoor, which Swamp had stopped pulling on, was thrown back into a vertical position with a bang, revealing the young, dark-skinned teenager from Pewter City.

"Mewtwo? Mew?" the former Rock-Type Gym Leader asked, shocked.

_"Hello, Brock,"_ Aurora greeted. _"We haven't seen you in some time."_

The Trainer looked a little flabbergasted upon seeing the group of Pokemon around him. "What are you doing here? How did -"

_"Grace led us here when she saw us taking a short rest out on the plains," _Chaos replied. _"We bring news from the outside, and hopefully another from our group is going to learn of events soon, as well. Especially considering who we met on the way here."_

He looked over at Aurora, who nodded in agreement.

Brock frowned, quickly regaining his composure. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"The Lake Spirits were set loose by Arctic," Vapor spoke up. "I think they have something in mind that may take the goons down."

_That_ definitely got Brock's attention. He stood even more upright, looking determined. "You're going to have to explain that in more detail."

Seeing Linoone open his mouth, he added, "Not here. Follow me."

An instant later, Brock had disappeared from sight, startling most of the Pokemon.

"Relax," Geetz stated, turning to look at the group. "There's a slide below the trapdoor that he used to get to the Underground. It's big enough for the marsh monster over there, too."

Grace nodded. "Yup! It's really fun to slide down, too!" She bounded over to the hole in the PokeCenter floor and dove into it, letting out a squeal of delight that faded away quickly as the distance grew between her and the other Pokemon.

"I wouldn't worry _too_ much about what's at the bottom," the Gengar added. He gave a Cheshire Cat grin, then faded from sight.

As soon as Geetz was gone, Raichu grinned, then started bounding forward for the trapdoor.

"Wait!" Swamp ordered. His voice brought the little Electric Mouse to a stop at the edge of the hole, and she turned around to look at him. "I can't help but feel concerned about this. There are many things that could be waiting for us down there."

"You saw Brock with your own eyes!" Raichu argued. "It's _got_ to be safe! He's been missing since before Mt. Coronet!"

"That could mean anything and you know it." Swamp turned his attention to Chaos and Aurora. "What do you two think?"

The two Legendaries looked at each other, considering what could be said about the events that had unfolded in front of them.

_"Something about these events bodes of things I learned during my own journeys,"_ Chaos finally stated.

Aurora nodded in agreement. "_Indeed. I believe that I can trust Brock, Grace, and Geetz."_ She looked at Khrista's four Pokemon. "_Judge for yourselves if you wish, but I am going to follow after them."_

Without another word, she turned and flew down the hole.

Even before Chaos could follow after the Mew, Raichu bounded forward and dove into the hole, yelling, "Cannonball!"

Linoone and Vapor followed after the Electric-Type as Chaos reached the edge of the hole. The Psychic-Type end up pausing there and looking over at Swamp, who had been eyeing the hole with a curious expression.

Seeing that Chaos was looking at him, Swamp stated, "Go ahead. I'll follow after you and close the trapdoor."

The Mewtwo paused, then gave a nod and stepped into the hole.

Instantly, he came into contact with a slide that was made out of slick, dark rock that was was neither too steep nor too level. Within a minute or so, the Pokemon was at the base of the slide, which opened up so that he could sit up and step off without flying out and hitting whoever happened to be nearby.

When Chaos had walked a few steps away from the base of the slide, he paused and took a look around as Swamp slid out of the slide on his belly and hit the ground.

The area looked like a large, hollowed-out cave that was surprisingly well-lit - how, the Pokemon couldn't exactly tell. Where he stood, it looked like the area had been tamped down repeatedly by Pokemon feet, and fading white lines were painted in the dirt and rock - sparring fields, most likely. Then, even further back, buildings of human and Pokemon make were mixed together in a glorified town.

Of course, it wasn't the landmarks so much as the people who were standing near he exit of the slide that received most of Chaos' attention.

_"Professor,"_ Chaos said, inclining his head as his blue eyes locked with those of an old man who had an old Dragonite by his side. _"I did not expect to see you here."_

"And I didn't expect to see you," Professor Oak replied from where he stood next to Brock. The old man looked ragged, but there was still a fire in his eyes. "We have a lot to talk about - all of you."

He looked over the group of Pokemon that had come down the slide.

_"As do we,"_ Chaos replied. _"Is there a place where we can speak?"_

"Here is as good a place as any." The Pokemon Professor motioned to the trampled sparring fields. "So few come out here anymore."

"Except for my sister and I!" Grace suddenly spoke up, looking up at the Legendary. "She's been trying to show me stuff so I can get used to being an Eevee more."

Aurora frowned._ "What?"_ She flew down to Grace's eye level and moved around the Normal-Type curiously. _"Are you saying that you were not an Eevee before?"_

Grace shook her head. "No. I -"

"We can discuss that later," Oak interrupted somewhat gruffly. "Brock said you mentioned something about the Lake Trio being free? Could you elaborate on that?"

"They said that Arctic had taken care of that," Raichu piped up eagerly. "And that our Trainer still had her free will."

_"Their Trainer is Khrista, not White,"_ Aurora stated quickly, seeing the looks that the Electric Mouse was getting after her statement. _"They also reported that the machine was destroyed, so Cyrus will not be bringing anyone else through."_

_"I believe White will still follow through to find those who have come here,"_ Chaos added, head high. _"She will find the Avatars."_

"We'll have to see," Oak replied, frowning. "What of Giratina?"

"You can thank our team's Rayquaza for that," Swamp replied. He had been rubbing the dust off his stomach and was now looking at the two humans in front of him. "He left for another haven that he knew of to tell others that Giratina was no longer a threat."

Oak and Brock looked at each other upon hearing this, then looked back at the Pokemon.

"While that is informative, I'm afraid that we don't have much use for information like that at this point," Oak stated finally. "However, there are a lot of Pokemon around here who may think otherwise. If your news gains enough attention, it may be able to get Birch out of his funk and actually into a useful mood."

"The Professor's in a funk?" Linoone repeated. He sounded somewhat concerned. "Not good. Not good." He brightened a moment later. "I know! I'll find some of my kin! He _always_ listened to us!"

Without another word, the Normal-Type took off into the village. A crowd of dust rose up behind him, but it quickly dissipated.

"I think I'll find my sister," Grace stated, her tail wagging. "Eliza's gotta know that White may be someone we know from home!" She dashed off in the same direction as Linoone had gone.

Aurora and the others watched the Eevee go.

The Mew then turned to look at Oak and stated bluntly, _"She used to be a human, didn't she?"_

"It appears to be so," the Professor replied. "The transportation from her own world to here must have caused her to transform, and I consider ourselves lucky that Eliza managed to find her and then find us before..._they_ did. She's spent most of her days with a Pokemon named Glacier when she isn't on missions or training."

Vapor perked up as soon as he heard that. "Glacier?" He looked over at the village before taking off, calling, "Glacier! Where are you?!"

Swamp turned to look at Oak. "At least somebody's got a happy ending down here," he muttered. "I'd better follow him before he does something stupid." He looked down at Raichu. "And you're sticking with me so that you don't do anything, either."

Raichu's lightning-tail dropped to the ground, and her ears sagged in disappointment. "Aww..." She followed after the Swampert as he lumbered off to the buildings.

_"I think we will stay here," _Chaos stated, looking over at Aurora. _"I have much to speak to Professor Oak about."_

_"As do I,"_ Aurora agreed. _"Especially considering your present situation."_

"The other Professors are probably going to want to hear this," Oak remarked. He motioned for the Pokemon to follow him, then turned and started walking.

Chaos, Aurora, the Dragonite, and Brock followed after him.

**And the Underground is found!**

**We'll get a better look at the area the next time that the Pokemon take over for a chapter! See you guys Saturday!**


	8. Tests

**Hey, guys - here's the second chapter I've posted this week, so if you haven't seen what's going on in chapter 6, I suggest you head back there now.**

**And now, we're back with Khrista, and if the title's any indication, things may turn out to be bad for her...or good and hilarious.**

**You never know.**

**Chapter 7 - Tests**

Khrista - who wasn't able to sleep and had taken to doing different stretching exercises in her cell - paused in the middle of a runner's position when a loud pounding noise resounded on the steel door.

She quickly scrambled to her feet as it opened, revealing Charon and a blond-haired woman in what looked like a black Galactic uniform.

"Time to test your physical strengths," Charon stated, grinning. He stepped aside, allowing the woman to step into the cell and grab Khrista by the arm.

The woman gained a disgusted look when her hand grabbed Khrista's arm. "What have you been _doing_ in here, kid?"

Khrista's startled face soured upon hearing the woman's voice. She sounded oddly familiar...

"Can't a girl be left to stretch out in peace?" Khrista grumbled. She tried to shake off the woman's grip, but it tightened instead.

"You're coming along whether you like it or not," the woman muttered.

She dragged Khrista out of her cell, then watched as Charon closed the door behind her and started down the hall. The two girls followed after him - the younger of the two looking just as disgruntled as she was curious at where they were going.

Khrista didn't even bother to keep track of the turns and warp panels they went over before she found herself in what looked like a gym-workout place of sorts. There were a couple humans - wearing the Galactic uniform, Khrista duly noted - doing something with barbells in one corner of the gym, which was taken up on one half of the room with what looked like a giant track.

However, no Pokemon were anywhere in sight.

Khrista scowled and tried to slip her arm out of the woman's grip. This time, she managed to succeed, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked around.

"What are you going to try to have me do?" she asked, looking over at Charon with what she hoped was an annoyed look. "Because whatever it is, I won't do it."

"Such false bravado," Charon remarked, seeing right through Khrista's charade. "I did not expect that from you." While the girl deflated and looked downright tired and nervous at whatever it was the scientist had planned, he continued, "We are going to send you through a series of tests to see how physically fit you are."

Khrista frowned, then gave the room another look around. It didn't look like much of a place for physical tests...

"Direct her towards the track," Charon stated, turning to look at the blond woman. "I want to see how well she runs. If we are going to be using any of them in the field, she is going to need to be able to keep up with some of the fastest Pokemon have."

Khrista was nudged forward by the woman from behind, and as she stumbled forward a couple steps, she scowled and asked snarkily, "Do you mean like Giratina?"

There was a loud _smack_ as Khrista's head was hit forward with a hand across the back of her head.

She turned in order to look at the blond woman who was standing behind her, and when Khrista caught sight of the strange fire in the woman's eyes, she knew who it was.

Cassidy of Team Rocket. Well, this place was certainly full of surprises.

"You utter that name again, and you're dead," Cassidy hissed.

"Leave her be," Charon replied. He had pulled out a clipboard again and wasn't looking up from something he was writing. "The child will learn eventually.

"Boss, she's pulled enough stunts to win her indefinite time in the Box - J-4 didn't -"

"Does it look like I care?" Charon asked coldly.

Cassidy shut up. A moment later, Khrista found herself nudged forward again, and she grudgingly complied, not even bothering to reach up and try to nurse her newfound headache.

As soon as Khrista reached the track, she turned and looked back at Cassidy - who was standing a few feet away from her - and Charon, who hadn't looked up from his clipboard yet.

"Now what, Knucklehead?" Khrista called, falling into an old habit from when she played the video games with her neighbors.

Charon looked up and frowned severely at Khrista, pushing the spectacles on his nose further up. "You are going to run until you drop or until I say so."

Cassidy gave a rather dry smirk and gave Charon a nod before moving her gaze to Khrista and crossing her arms over her chest, a snide look coming over her face.

Khrista sent a glare in Cassidy's direction, but when the Rocket took a step forward suddenly in an intimidating stance, Khrista's eyes widened and she took a step back reflexively.

"Okay, okay," Khrista muttered. Turning, she started to jog along the track, hoping to save her energy for as long as possible. She was loose thanks to stretching in her cell, but that had eaten up some of her energy already.

At this point, she hoped that Charon would order her to stop before she dropped.

Khrista had managed to make it three quarters around the track and was starting to tire when she heard Charon yell out, "Faster!"

Khrista did her best to roll her eyes as she casually turned the corner in the track, but she didn't pick up any speed as she finished off the first lap.

"Kid, I'd listen to him if I were you," Cassidy spoke up as Khrista passed her. Was that _fear_ on the woman's face? "You've done more than enough to make him mad here. Just get it over with."

"What exactly could that old man do to me?" Khrista asked, slowing down a little bit as she talked. The answer was something that she wanted to hear.

"It's not what _he_ can do, but what he'll order his bodyguard to do. They're completely merciless."

Khrista stumbled a little when she heard Cassidy's statement, looking back at the Rocket in surprise. The woman had a grim look on her face but it soon faded into an indifferent expression that left Khrista completely confused.

However, the idea that someone like Matthew would get called in if she didn't go a little faster was as ridiculous as it was terrifying. Khrista returned her gaze to the track in front of her and started to pick up her speed. The thought that Matthew might come in out of nowhere was _not_ something Khrista was looking forward to.

When Khrista had gotten up to a full-blown run after Charon had shouted "Faster!" two more times, the idea of a second wind suddenly became true for her. Energy seemed to flow in from out of nowhere, allowing Khrista to keep up her pace.

However, it didn't last long. Khrista managed to complete another lap at this speed before collapsing at Cassidy's feet, gasping for breath and relieved that she was getting at least some sort of rest.

Charon walked into Khrista's line of vision, writing something on his clipboard while muttering, "Not very fit for a Trainer." He looked down at Khrista with a cold expression. "Get up. We're not done with you yet."

Cassidy reached down and grabbed Khrista by the back of her shirt, lifting her up somewhat before grabbing a hold of her arms and hauling her up to her feet.

"Just give me a breather, all right?" Khrista demanded, panting. "I'm not used to running that fast."

Under her breath, she added, "Knucklehead."

Charon's eyes narrowed as he glared up at Khrista - even though the man was small, he still looked somewhat dangerous. After a moment, though, he turned and started over to the other side of the gym. Cassidy followed after him, still holding onto Khrista - but only by one arm.

As soon as Khrista saw the barbells that Charon was heading towards, she let out a groan.

"Let me faint here and now," Khrista muttered.

**Time Break - change in POV**

When the physical trials were over, the girl's body was glistening with sweat, the girl herself panting from exhaustion, feeling like she could collapse at any moment. Charon watched her out of the corner of his eye, recording the results on his clipboard.

A moment later, there was a soft _thump_, causing the scientist to look up and see that his subject had collapsed on the ground and was _snoring_.

The old scientist shook his head in disappointment. "Wake her up," he told Cassidy. "We aren't done here."

The ex-Rocket grunt moved over to the girl's side and shook her gently, murmuring, "Wake up."

When the subject didn't stir, the blond-haired woman tried a different approach: she slapped the teen in the face.

The girl reacted instantly, her eyes snapping open as she flipped over onto her back and scrambled away from Cassidy and Charon. The slightly panicked expression that showed on her face quickly faded into one of disappointment as she looked around. Her body relaxed a little, and she started to get to her feet.

"If you're planning on making me do anything else -" the girl started.

"I already have all the data I need for your physical abilities," Charon cut her off abruptly. "Next will come your knowledge of Pokemon and our world as you once knew it."

The girl blinked, a blank expression coming over her face. It soon changed into a confused one, though, and the girl frowned.

Charon ignored the girl's facial expressions and snapped her fingers. Cassidy instantly latched onto the girl, who simply glared up in annoyance, but didn't fight back to break free. Charon then turned and started for a set of double doors near him, Cassidy and the subject following.

The old man decided that he really needed a name for the girl, be it a letter and a number or some sort of nickname.

Charon threw the doors open and stalked into the hall beyond it, Cassidy following behind him. He could hear _something_ being muttered - most likely from the girl. That child had already broken so many regulations that he was considering giving her own personal Box to sit in, much like J-4.

The old scientist quickly put the thought out of his mind. There were other things that needed to be taken care of before he could turn his attention to the girl and the needed disciplinary measures.

He stopped in front of a steel door with a red R emblazoned on it and turned around to look at Cassidy and the girl. "In here."

He placed his hand on the handle and threw the door open, revealing a map of Kanto and Jhoto glowing brightly on the back wall. The other walls had different multiple-choice questions.

The girl peered through the doorway, blinking in increasing confusion before looking over at Charon.

"Go in there and answer the questions," Charon stated, bored. He waved his clipboard in the direction of the door, and Cassidy pushed the girl through. The subject let out a yelp that became muffled as the door was closed behind her.

"Why not go in after her, Boss?" Cassidy asked, motioning to the door.

"I don't think I need to," Charon replied. "Give the child a few minutes, and then we'll check on her progress."

**Change in POV - Khrista (1st)**

I glared at the door and let out a low growl of frustration. These guys just weren't giving me a break, were they? If they were going to do this every day, I was probably going to fall apart by day five!

But...time does feel kind of wonky, here. As I turned to look at the giant map that clearly looked like it had been copied from HeartGold and SoulSilver, I realized that it felt like I was moving quickly and slowly at the same time - almost like there were multiple streams of time moving at once or something.

I decided to try and ignore it, and instead see what exactly it was that these morons wanted me to do in here.

The map had blank spots all over the place, and there was a large keyboard on the wall and directly below the map. Geography test. Ok.

The other two walls had what looked like multiple choice questions, but one side was marked with "Rocket Activities" and the other side had "White's Movements."

There's that name again. White.

That's the girl Trainer from Unova, though - Crystal's in Jhoto, isn't she? And wasn't Green - or Leaf - the girl from Kanto?

Why is Cyrus so obsessed _with_ this kid?

That's when I noticed a subtitle underneath the title on White's side of the room.

"Answer according to what you know from the events in your world. If you don't know, guess."

A quick scan of the room tells me that I can't see the ceiling, but I don't see any of those red lights that usually means a security camera's nearby - at least, that's how it is in the movies.

They must be monitoring the screens instead for answers.

But...they won't know whether I'm telling the truth or not.

A grin spread across my face, and I'm sure that my blue eyes gained a sinister expression as I started for the map.

I would let them know I knew some stuff, but the rest...

This was gonna be _fun_.

The map was first - I knew that right off the bat. I could name off the cities, even if I hadn't played the games, because they were shown in the anime and the manga (the latter of which I'd been keeping up with thanks to a neighbor). I started typing names in and filled up the Kanto/Jhoto combined map.

When that was full, I turned to look at the Rocket Activity quiz.

First question: What mountain were Team Rocket grunts stationed in?

**A**. Mt. Coronet

**B**. Mt. Moon

**C**. Twist Mountain

**D**. None of the above

Sheesh, is this easy. I hit "B" and moved on.

The remaining questions were a lot like that - they asked where Rocket grunts were and what exactly they were doing in certain areas. I hit all the right answers, but I realized that I should've just checked the ones that involved the anime...until I got to the last question.

"How did you come to know all this? Check all that apply."

And right below "playing the games" and above "watching the anime," I saw the one word that I hadn't really thought of.

"Research."

I swear - whatever God calls himself in this reality - he must be looking out for me. I hit that button - and the manga and anime buttons, which were below it. I hesitated before I hit the "finish" button, though.

What if they found out about Vapor? I got him when I was playing LeafGreen, so -

That's when I remembered Matthew. They didn't know who he was, and they didn't know who I was. Which gave me a double advantage, considering that I still had my free will and everything and they didn't know what Trainer license was mine.

I went ahead and hit "finish," then turned to look at the White's Movements side. The questions over here were definitely as easy, but there were some that gave me a little difficulty.

Like, "what Pokemon did White choose as her Starter?" Of course it gave the usual Kanto Pokemon - including Pikachu and _Vulpix_, surprisingly. It made me wonder, but I just went with the Pokemon Type she had in the manga - Grass-Type, considering that she had the Servine given to her by N.

A giant red X appeared on that screen - something that hadn't happened on the other screens. Guess I got that one wrong - as well as a number of others.

As soon as I hit "finish" - which was on the same last screen as what had been on Rocket Activity - the door was slammed open, and Cassidy marched in, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out.

Next thing I knew, we were standing in front of a door with the symbols for Aqua and Magma - you know, the ones that look like a skull and crossbones and some sort of mountain.

"Let's see how you do in here," Charon said, grinning at me as he opened the door. Cassidy promptly threw me inside and shut the door behind me.

I found myself in the same sort of situation as I had in the previous room, except I was standing nose-to-wall with a Hoenn map and the wall that would have said "Rocket Activity" said "Magma/Aqua Activity."

I did the map first again, even though it had been a while since I had played the game, I could still remember some of the names. Lavaridge. Petalburg. Littleroot. Fortree. The rest of the names came back as I put in the other names, and I had the map filled up pretty quickly.

I went through the Teams' activity pretty much the same way as I did with the Rocket one, but this time I figured that I had to say that I'd played the games, too.

I mean, those morons probably heard that I commanded a Rayquaza to take down Giratina, so there's no way I would have been able to get away with that.

So I hit every single one of the buttons and turned to White's side of things.

Again with the easy questions, and this time I actually managed to get away with nothing wrong on her end, which surprised me - especially considering that I hit Mudkip when I had been aiming for Torchic (she _did_ have a Tepig before getting the Servine, after all).

Cassidy came in and grabbed me again and walked me past Charon, who looked like his jaw was about to drop. When I saw the tablet that he held in his hands, I could guess why.

"No one has gotten a perfect score on that test!" the scientist hissed, moving to stand in front of me when Cassidy stopped in front of a door with a familiar shield - the Plasma logo. "How is it that you knew all of White's movements?!"

He didn't look too happy about me getting a perfect score.

I gave a shrug. "Guess I'm just lucky that way."

"Well, I doubt that you'll be so lucky in here." Charon opened the door, and I was thrust inside.

Yup. Unova test. I wonder why they completely skipped over Sinnoh...?

Wait.

They might have been looking for kids who were _specifically_ in the Sinnoh region during the time that White was. Which means that I can't pull a fake one and say that I'd never been there.

I turned to the Plasma Activity first, and instantly noticed that something was off. It actually said _Neo_ Plasma at the top. I didn't know there was a -

Wait. Neo means "new". In one of the mangas, there was a Neo Galactic. That means we're talking about Black 2 and White 2.

But...if White was in those games...then who took out the Plasma goons in the first one? Black?

This game was one that I didn't know so well, because it just came out and I had been spending more of my time working on getting ready to transfer Pokemon into the games. I would have already done that, but I wasn't about to try to ask for a DS from the Carlsdales when their owners are...well, gone.

I managed to get through well enough up to the point that they were messing around with freezing Drayden's place. After that, things kind of went downhill. I'd heard some things from people, but it didn't really stick with me - at least, until two questions later when I realized _why_ I had gotten the question wrong.

Like the fact that Ghestis had been able to control White Kyruem (they didn't include Black Kyruem, surprisingly) with the key-cane thing he had.

White's Movements in this one didn't really fare much better. I _did_ hit the Fire-Type Starter this time, but I got it wrong (again), and some of her actions were completely unpredictable.

How was _I_ supposed to know that she had made friends with Black before she'd gotten there?

By the time I had gotten done with the map, I knew that I didn't have a full score, but they wouldn't be able to tell I had played the games. I hit "Research" for both ends of the quizzes, so that left that knowledge safe.

As well as whatever Pokemon that I might have befriended that now exist here. Cassidy stormed in again and dragged me out again, and I saw a rather grumpy look on Charon's face. _Had_ he been counting on me getting all the ones on Unova right?

"Well, that covers her mental potential," the old man sniffed. "Not very much experience for an Avatar." He made a motion with his hand. "Take her back to her cell and leave her there."

"Yes, Boss." Cassidy grabbed my arm and started to drag me down the hall towards a warp panel.

I didn't really fight back, considering that I still didn't have much energy after the "physical tests." But that didn't wipe the knowing smirk off my face.

I may have gotten a "perfect score" on Hoenn, but there was a lot more about the world that I knew about - and they didn't know, which made my victory all the sweeter.

Now just to figure out now I could use that to my own advantage.

**Well, that's different from last time. I didn't let Khrista take all the knowledge tests then, and Butch had been asking he questions.**

**So...yeah. They know she knows stuff, but not really how much.**

**Smart little sneak.**

**Be seein all you readers next week!**


	9. Underground part 2

Hello! I'm posting early again this week because my weekend is full (again...).

So, we're back with Khrista's Pokemon this time around!

Chapter 8 - Underground, part 2

"So, you're Khrista's first Pokemon?"

The Swampert gave a nod, looking down at the pink, fox-like Pokemon looking up at him with curious eyes.

"Yes," the Water/Ground-Type replied. "I heard that you were human once. Perhaps you knew her?"

The Espeon frowned, then turned and walked over to the other side of the stone hut they were now standing in. Grace was lying on a mat of straw at the back, watching the two older Pokemon converse with mild interest.

"I _did_ go to school with her," the Espeon admitted, turning to look at Swamp. "But we never really talked. I never even _knew_ that she played games like this - or that we would end up getting pulled into this mess."

"I think it's kind of fun, Eliza," Grace spoke up, wagging her tail.

"It's _not_ fun," the Espeon snapped back in reply, her ears moving back as she glared over at Grace. "We're stuck in the middle of a refuge that we can't leave, and the guy who brought us here would sooner see us _brainwashed_ than sent home!"

The Eevee's ears drooped, and she lowered her head. "Sorry."

Eliza let out a sigh, and she walked over and slipped onto the straw mat and snuggled against her younger sister in what looked like a comforting gesture.

"It's okay," the Espeon purred. "At least we're safe here for now."

"For now?" Swamp looked up at the open expanse of the cave roof above them, glad that the huts didn't have roofs so that he could stand upright. "Do you mean to say that those above us may try to find us?"

"The Professors always say that there's a risk." Eliza got to her feet again, walking over to the Swampert. "And if Cyrus managed to find us, then things will definitely become worse for us." Eliza's eyes narrowed in determination. "But if I have to, I will fight to make sure that my sister remains free."

Swamp gave a nod. "Your will is commendable," he rumbled. "But I hope it will not have to come to that."

Eliza nodded in agreement.

"I've got a question," Grace spoke up in a quiet voice.

The Espeon turned to look at her sister, and Swamp raised his head slightly so that he could look the Eevee in the eye.

"Did you ever get to actually _see_ White?" Grace asked. "I mean, I've heard a lot about the Avatars, and I thought that maybe -"

"No, I did not see her." The Swampert shook his head. "If I ever did, I did not recognize her. Khrista led us out on the Routes and through towns faster than White probably ever did. There is a chance that we may have reached certain areas before her - or long after. I cannot say what sort of changes in time were enacted upon us."

"But do you know anything about her?" Grace's ears went up in curiosity, and Eliza also gained a curious expression.

Swamp cocked his head to one side, giving the two a curious expression himself before slowly nodding. "I do. She is a commendable Trainer, having conquered five regions, and it is said she has befriended every single species of Pokemon without effort. There are...rumors, as well, but I am not about to take them into account."

"But I do!"

The Water/Ground-Type turned to face the open doorway of the hut, catching sight of a large blue, humanoid alligator with red triangles going down its back.

The Hoenn Starter blinked. "Typhoon?"

The Feraligatr gave Swamp a grin. "Hey. Vapor said you were hanging around here. I wanted to talk to you about something, rival Trainer's Pokemon to rival Trainer's Poekmon." He looked around the Swampert. "Maybe without the kids listening in."

"I'm not a kid!" Eliza barked, frowning.

"Yeah, well, you're not up to my level." Typhoon made a careless waving motion at the Espeon, who let out a low growl, but reluctantly sat down. The Feraligatr then turned to look at Swamp directly. "There's something big going down up there - I can tell. And so can a couple of the Legendaries that are hiding out down here. The Profs said they wanted you to be there when they talk to a couple of the Legendaries about what happened when our Trainer dropped in."

"Me?" Swamp frowned at the Feraligatr. "Why me? I'm not -"

"Stop being so modest," the Jhoto Starter replied. "You're the oldest out of all of Khrista's team, so you're going whether you like it or not. Come on - I'll lead the way."

The Feraligatr turned and started walking along the street that ran in between the Pokemon-sized huts, the area lit by lamps loaded with Shiny and Dawn stones. Swamp, after giving Eliza and Grace a nod of farewell, followed after him.

"What Legendaries are hiding down here?" Swamp asked. "I had thought that they had gone to hide by themselves elsewhere."

"Some Pokemon thought it'd be better with humans, I guess," Typhoon replied with a shrug. "There's no way that I'd trust anybody after what happened _up_ _there_, though." He glared up at the cave ceiling as they walked past a Gardevoir and a Gallade conversing with a Kirlia, who looked impatient for some reason. Neither Starters stopped to overhear what the conversation was, however.

"The world above isn't looking so good," Swamp replied. "This has to be the best that I've ever seen anything." He looked over a large collection of huts towards the giant Pikachu head that was positioned at the top of a hill. "The Pokemon aren't as organized."

"You can thank Pika for that," Typhoon stated, motioning to the Pikachu head. "From what I've heard, that little guy's been working at keeping everybody's spirits up, including the rest of Joshua's team. Something about him being here before or something."

"Hmmm..."

The pair soon left the huts and walked across a small plain of grass. A small, white Pokemon that looked like it was part bush looked in their direction as they passed, then went back to its own business. Soon, Typhoon and Swamp were walking through the more human-populated sector of the Underground, the Feraligatr leading the way to a white, two-story building that had a PokeBall on the front.

However, the two did not set foot inside. Instead, Typhoon pointed Swamp in the direction of a gathering of Pokemon and humans - most notable among them being a large, experienced-looking Blastoise who had a Pikachu wearing a red scarf sitting on the Water-Type's shoulder.

"Go on," Typhoon stated. "Like I said, they've been waiting for ya."

"You're not coming?"

"Na. I'm not really part of the older group." Typhoon took a step back. "Go on."

Swamp sighed and shook his head at the Feraligatr's antics, then turned and started for the group, leaving the Jhoto Starter to stand by himself.

A figure in a lab coat turned as Swamp approached. The Water/Ground-Type recognized the Pokemon Professor instantly.

"Professor Rowan," Swamp stated, nodding his head in greeting. "I was told you all wanted to see me?" He looked around the group of humans and Pokemon, catching sight of Chaos and Aurora standing behind the Blastoise with a small, V-shaped Pokemon colored in reds and yellows.

Rowan gave a curt nod. Swamp saw the bags under the Jhoto Professor's eyes and knew that it had been some time since he had slept. "Yes. We have been discussing a few things, and wished to have you input. As the oldest and most experienced of your team's Pokemon, you were the most likely of the newcomers to have anything that might be useful."

"What is it that you need?" Swamp asked.

"Chaos and Aurora have already explained about the situation concerning the Lake Trio and what occurred with your Trainer," continued a man with light brown hair the came up in three small sprigs on top of his head. "We were wondering if you have any idea as to the locations of other havens."

Swamp frowned, then looked around quietly as he considered his answer. The Blastoise, Pikachu, Chaos, Aurora, the other Legendary, and himself were not the only Pokemon that were there - there was a green lizard with a pinecone tail who Swamp found oddly familiar. And then there were the Pokemon Professors besides - both recognizable and not.

"The trio from Jhoto did provide us, Cresselia, and Darkrai protection above ground," the Swampert admitted. "However, I'm not aware of any other havens. Rayquaza spent most of his time moving from place to place. If he had followed us, he might have been able to tell you."

"That is the main problem," spoke up a man in a lab coat with light brown hair and a matching beard. "When Cyrus struck, the first thing he did was hunt through the regions to find whatever pockets of resistance that might have come up in the days following the event. We haven't tried to contact any havens, which leaves us cut off from the rest of the world. I have yet to see if any others survived."

"You were all here - in this region - when it happened?" Swamp frowned. "Our Avatar had yet to completely transfer all of us to Jhoto, which was the next region she had conquered. My team and Rayquaza are the only ones that are left of her Pokemon here."

"We were here to discuss the appearance of a new Pokemon Type," a woman spoke up. Her hair was bunched up like an ice cream cone on top of her head. "Professor Rowan led us down here and we've been staying here ever since." The younger Professor Juniper let out a sigh and lowered her head. "And I doubt that we'll ever leave at this point."

"I believe there's still a chance."

Everyone in the group turned to look in the direction of the Blastoise and the Pikachu. The Electric Mouse jumped off his perch, then continued to speak.

"I've run a few missions myself when days are slow. A few runs back, I found something in Deep Coronet."

"Deep Coronet?!" Elm repeated in shock. "What were you doing in Deep C-Coronet?!"

"It was a 6-star mission," the Pikachu replied, pointing to a winged, gold PokeBall that was pinned to the red scarf wrapped around his neck. "A Dugtrio said that there was something going on in the mountain, and it had been going on since a few days after we had arrived underground. So I took a couple strong Pokemon with me and started to poke around."

"There were enough Pokemon crying out to wake the dead," the Sceptile spoke up.

_Now_ Swamp knew who the Sceptile was.

"Where they in pain, Cedar?" Swamp asked in a low growl, stiffening up a little.

The Sceptile turned to look at the Swampert directly, revealing to the Hoenn Water Starter a scar that went over his right eye. "No. It sounded more like they were trying to cheer someone on." He voice didn't carry any sort of growl, but the grim look in his eye was enough to make Swamp's hackles lower.

"Cheering someone on?" Professor Juniper frowned, then turned to look over at Professor Oak, who was standing next to the Blastoise and hadn't said a single word. "What do you make of it?"

Professor Oak's already present frown deepened, and he looked over at the Blastoise. "Something tells me that -"

"Hey!"

Everyone turned at the sound of the new voice, and everyone except for Swamp stiffened in surprise.

A man with his dark brown hair and beard sticking out everywhere and wearing clothes that didn't look like they had been cleaned in weeks stomped out of the building near them.

"What do you think you're doing, having a meeting without me?" the man demanded, his eyes burning with a determined fire.

A Linoone trotted out of the building after him, grinning triumphantly. "I told him!"

_"Told him?"_ Chaos asked, frowning.

Swamp might have jumped if it wasn't in his nature; he had forgotten Chaos, Aurora, and the little "V" Pokemon were still there.

"Yeah. About Khrista." Linoone's entire body started to wag excitedly.

"And we can use that to our advantage," the man stated with grim determination, looking around the group. "If their Trainer is loose, there's a chance that we can take Cyrus down while she wears at him from the inside."

"Birch, try to think logically, here," Oak spoke up. "We can't contact anyone who may be on the inside _and_ _free_. We were discussing the chance that there may be something going on in Deep Coronet!" He motioned to the Pikachu, who was standing in the center of the group. "Pika, I believe that it may be a good idea to look into this, but you're going to have to get a team together that is of both Pokemon _and_ Trainers."

Pika's ears shot up. "Trainers on an Exploration Team?"

"You don't think that it would work?" the Blastoise spoke up in a low rumble.

"No, I do, Trevor." Pika looked back at the Blastoise. "It's just that it's never been done before."

Swamp shrugged. "First time for everything."

_"Can I come, too?_" The little V-shaped Legendary flew forward and landed next to Pika, looking eager.

"Victini..." Pika sighed and shook his head. "If Cyrus gets you, we're all done for. I'm not going to risk it."

The Legendary's ears drooped, and the Pokemon looked extremely disappointed. _"Yeah, yeah. I know..."_

Swamp frowned slightly. It looked like the Pokemon was starting to get worn down. The creature probably wanted some action...

"We're going to need you if we're going to take Cyrus down," Birch spoke up, coming over and patting Victini on the head. "Trust me - we're going to take him out!"

Linoone let out a howl of excitement, throwing his head back.

"Boys, please!" Oak barked. When Linoone had stopped howling, the Kanto Professor let out a sigh of annoyance. "I need some rest. Pika, I'm counting on you to make the right decisions in this."

Pika gave a nod. "You can count on me, Professor." He started out of the circle. "Trevor, Cedar - I'm going to need your help looking for a couple people."

The Blastoise and Sceptile looked at each other, then started after the Pikachu.

"Is there anything else you need me for?" Swamp asked, looking over at the humans and Legendaries that had originally been at the start of the meeting.

Rowan shook his head. "You may go - and take the Linoone with you. I doubt that Birch needs to be -"

"No, he can stay," Birch spoke up defensively. "It's been a while since I've seen a Zigzagoon from Route 101 - even if it isn't one anymore." He looked down at Linoone, who wagged his tail, looking delighted.

Swamp gave a nod, then turned and took a couple steps forward to where Victini still stood. The Swampert leaned forward and whispered quietly in the Pokemon's ear, "Don't worry. If we do find allies in this Deep Coronet place, we may soon be back above ground."

Victini looked up at Swamp curiously, but the Hoenn Starter didn't even register the look the little Legendary was giving him, instead turning and walking away from the group.

As Swamp started back towards the Pokemon-made huts to find someone who might give him a space to sleep for a time, he passed by a small, white house that had a fence that was surrounded by a small plot of land that looked like it had once been used as a small garden.

A sign posted near the front door read "Mrs. K's House. Do Not Disturb."

**I bet you know who Mrs. K is. It's hard not to.**

**And as for what may be going on in "Deep Coronet," (which happens to be a Mystery Dungeon name that I made up)...well, that's going to be on hold until we get to the next Underground chapter.**

**So, see you guys next week!**


	10. Dreamscape, Part 2

**So, we're with Khrista in another dreamscape scene that was in the last edition of this story. If you guys can remember what's going to happen here, just know some things got switched around a _little_ bit - not by much, though.**

**And thank you, faneevee2012, for the Follow!**

**Chapter 9 - Dreamscape, Part 2 (Khrista's POV)**

I had only just managed to lie down and close my eyes when they snapped open again and I found myself staring at a soft blue ceiling; I was back in my "Dream House," I guess you could call it.

I climbed out of my bed and left the room, then went downstairs only to find that Ash was just coming into the family room. As soon as he saw me, he gave another one of those not-quite smiles.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Didn't you say that you liked to mess with other people's heads?"

"I figured I'd give them a night before going and giving them a good scare," Ash replied with a shrug. "Besides, I'd kind of like to see if another Pokemon will do anything."

Another Pokemon? Is he getting help from someone on the outside? Wait - messing with people's heads...there's only one Pokemon who does _that_.

I must've gotten such a look on my face, because Ash gave another nod, but he looked amused.

"Yup - that's right." Ash's amused look faded pretty quickly, though. "Telling you isn't the reason why I came around, though."

Oh? "What's up?"

"I want you to meet someone tonight." Ash held out a hand. "I can take you to him, but there are a couple things you've gotta do."

"What?" I hoped that it wasn't anything that was going to be too drastic.

"Close your eyes as soon as you get out of here, and don't let go. If you do, you're going to end up being sucked back to your dreamscape without a chance to grab me again."

Oh. Well, at least he didn't say "out of body experience."

I grabbed his outstretched hand in one of my own, and the two of us started for the front door of my "Dream House."

Honestly, if it's going to be called that, it's going to have to look more like me and less like my family's actual house.

Ash opened the door and started out of the house into the black void beyond. As soon as I set foot outside of the house, my eyes snapped shut without my say-so. My grip instantly tightened on Ash's hand, though, and I heard him mutter something under his breath.

I didn't catch all of it, but it sounded like he'd said "strong grip."

The next thing I knew, there was the sound of another door opening, and I nearly tripped over something.

"You can open your eyes now," Ash spoke up. I heard a door creak shut behind me, and I opened my eyes. They didn't want to open up as fast as I wanted, though - now I know the real meaning of heavy eyelids.

They opened up all the same, but I was in a dreamscape that I hadn't expected.

"Who's dreamscape is this?" I asked, looking around at the forest clearing we now stood in.

"Shoot, he's _still_ asleep."

I turned my head to look at Ash, then followed his line of sight to a small spot of sunlight not too far away from the clearing. Lying in the leaf-dabbled spot was a yellow mouse with red cheeks and a lightning-bolt tail.

"Looks like we'll have to head back," Ash muttered under his breath.

"You're not going to wake him up?" I asked, frowning.

Ash gave me a wide-eyed look. "No way. He doesn't know that I can do this, and waking him up in here could get me _killed_!"

"Kill you? Why would -"

Apparently, Ash's words probably came out louder than he had intended, because the Pikachu opened his eyes, leapt to his hind feet, and promptly let out a yell as he unleashed a blast of electricity at us. I only just managed to run out of the way of the blast, while Ash ended up taking the full brunt of it and was left looking slightly singed.

But he didn't look dead - yet.

"What are you doing here?" Pikachu demanded, glaring at Ash.

Wait a sec - he can speak English? He didn't in the anime...

Hang on. This was kind of happening before - outside the citadel.

_Can I understand PokeSpeak now?_

"Is it bad enough that I have to deal with the one out there?" Pikachu made a motion with one paw, as though there was enough proof in our surroundings. "Get out! I don't want to see you dressed up like my Trainer!"

Ash took a step back, looking hurt. For some odd reason, he didn't look so singed.

"Wow " I stated, feeling a little lost for words. "When you said he wanted to kill you, you definitely weren't kidding."

Pikachu turned his attention to me, and he frowned cautiously. "Another one?"

I took a step back myself, feeling a little wary of the little Electric-Type. "I'm not like Ash, if that's what you mean. I kinda got yanked into this without a warning. My name's -"

"Don't!" Ash yelled in alarm, clapping a hand over my mouth.

I pulled back instinctively and gave him a curious look. "What's wrong with saying my name?"

"Do _that_, and Cyrus _will_ find out when I wake up," Ash replied seriously. "And names have power around here - if _he_ finds out, you're done for."

"Done for?" I frowned. I could see Pikachu looking back and forth between us out of confusion, but I didn't want to shift from Ash before I got an answer. "What do you mean?"

The Kanto Trainer gained a frustrated expression. "You're going to end up like the other kids is what I mean."

My eyes widened. "Whoa. That's a problem."

"What is going _on_ here?" Pikachu spoke up, sounding annoyed.

Ash and I looked down at the Pokemon, and I gained a sheepish expression.

"Yeah...I'm kinda...not in his situation." I jabbed a thumb in Ash's direction.

"Then what are you doing with him?" Pikachu took a couple steps forward, pointing accusingly at Ash while keeping his eyes glued on me.

I shrugged. "He said he wanted me to meet someone."

"I'm right here, you know," Ash muttered, sounding annoyed. I ignored him.

"It was kind of a shock when you attacked," I added. "You're pretty strong."

Pikachu blinked, then frowned. "All right. What are you doing here, then?"

"I think Ash has got that answer."

Ash got down on his knees, looking the Electric-Type directly in the face - as directly as he could, at any rate, since Pikachu crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look at his Trainer.

Ash took in a breath and hesitated a moment before speaking. "The Lake Spirits are loose. Articuno did it when I brought her in." He glanced over at me, and I frowned.

"That was _after_ I got knocked out, wasn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah." Ash gave a sheepish grin, then looked back at Pikachu. I noticed that the Electric Mouse had been eyeing Ash, but he quickly looked away when the Trainer when Ash looked back at Pikachu.

"I'm leaving Cyrus alone in the dreamscapes," Ash added. "I've been bugging him whenever I've fallen asleep, but I think it'll go to someone who knows what he's doing a whole lot better."

One of Pikachu's ears twitched, and he turned his head to look at Ash curiously. Some sort of look was passed between them, and Pikachu's eyes widened. "You have got to be kidding me."

What? Who was it that they were talking about? Wait. Right. _That_ Pokemon.

Ash shook his head, a grin appearing on his face. "I'm not. And I'm hoping that he heard me, because otherwise I won't be able to see you because I'd have full hands."

Pikachu looked between Ash and I with wide eyes that were filled with excitement. "He's going to be really out of it. Do you think we can -"

"I don't know, but there's a big chance," Ash replied. He looked over at me, then moved up to stand on his feet. "There are a couple other people who are in the same situation that you are. I don't think that you'd be able to find them in time, but there is a chance that you'll be able to hunt them down. Eventually."

I blinked, and my eyes widened. "Really? How many?"

Ash shook his head. "I can't say. There's a lot of stuff that goes on when I'm out...doing things. I've got a couple guesses, but..." He shrugged, then paused and looked up at the blue sky. "I'd better get you back to your place. We don't have much time before you're going to get woken up again."

"How can you tell?" Ash gave me a deadpan expression. "Do you really want me to answer that question?" he asked flatly.

"Uh...something tells us I shouldn't."

Ash gave me a nod, then held out his hand for me to grab. Looking down at Pikachu, he stated, "I'll come back tomorrow night, okay?"

The Electric-Type gave a nod. "Yeah. Sure." He gave a sly smirk. "Man, when I yelled for you to break loose, I didn't think _this_ would happen."

"It's been going on for a while, actually," Ash replied, surprising the Pikachu.

"Um, I kinda want to get back into my head, so if you don't mind..."

Ash looked over at me. "Right." He turned and started for the other side of the clearing, where a door materialized out of nowhere. Ash placed his hand on the doorknob, then looked back at Pikachu for another moment.

Then he threw the door open, and I shut my eyes. Next thing I knew, we were walking over the threshold of my own dreamscape.

"Thanks for helping me out back there with Pikachu," Ash stated as he shut the door behind him.

I opened my eyes much more easily than when I had entered Pikachu's dreamscape. Must be something about home, sweet home.

"It wasn't a problem - really." I looked over at Ash, then gave a dry smirk. "You would have gotten through to him even if I wasn't there; you're that stubborn."

Ash let out a short laugh - I figured that he was agreeing with me. "Yeah."

"Try and visit me again sometime, all right? I don't think they're going to let me know stuff because of who I am."

Plus, I never liked to be left in the dark.

"We'll see," the Kanto Trainer responded. He opened my front door again, then disappeared out into the void.

**Yup. And now Ash and Pikachu are on good terms.**

**And you guys can _probably_ guess who Ash was talking about before...if you know anything about dreams and scaring people. If you don't know, the Pokemon's name is going to show up sooner or later.**

**See you guys next week!**


	11. Cousin!

**OK, since Khrista's all by her lonesome, did you guys think that I got rid of the characters she'd been hiding out with originally? Well, I didn't get rid of all of them, because one of them is really needed for this story!**

**And just to let you guys know, I may end up posting another chapter later on this Easter break. Keep your eyes open!**

**Chapter 10 - Cousin!**

Khrista woke up to the sound of the door of her cell slamming open, and upon seeing that Cassidy was standing in the doorway, she retreated under the thin blanket in an attempt to get some last-minute sleep. She was still tired after the events of the day before, and didn't to end up going through the physical trials without proper rest.

The Rocket saw straight through this ruse, however, and promptly stomped over to the bunk that Khrista had claimed and tore the blanket off the upper bunk.

There was a loud _rrrrip!_, and the blanked tore in half, leaving Khrista and Cassidy each holding a piece of the flimsy fabric.

It was during that noise that it almost looked like Khrista's shirt had flickered orange for a second.

Khrista's head shot up from the pillow, surprise clear on her face as she sat up and inspected the jagged tear in the blanket. "Whoa. I figured this was thin, but -"

She was cut off when Cassidy threw her half in the brown-haired girl's face.

"Come on," Cassidy stated, irritated as she watched Khrista pull the blanket away from her face. "The Boss wants you for something."

Khrista blinked, thinking back to the day before for a moment. She looked down at the two blanket pieces in her hands for a moment, then clenched her fists more tightly.

"Knucklehead wants me?" Khrista demanded, putting on her false bravado once again. "Fine."

She tossed the blanket halves out of the bunk bed, allowing them to settle on the floor in two flattened out, jagged rectangles. Then she slipped out of the upper bunk and landed on the stone-cold floor with a _thump_.

Cassidy raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as to Khrista's movements. Instead, she took hold of the girl's arm and led her out of the cell and down the hall.

Khrista's gaze went over the hall again, scanning each of the doors for some sort of recognizable mark that might tell her who was inside. She didn't see anything before Cassidy led her over a warp panel and they warped into a room that was a dismal gray...

...and lined with cages containing Pokemon.

Charon, who was standing in the center of the room and was scribbling something on a clipboard, turned when Cassidy and Khrista entered. A rather sinister grin came over his face.

"Well! Glad to see you managed to arrive here on time," the scientist stated cheerily. "Unlike some people I know." He glared at a young man with teal hair standing nearby, and the receiver of the glare cringed.

Khrista frowned. "Is there time in this place?" She glanced over at the teal-haired man, and realized a moment later who it was. _Butch? Rocket nostalgia much?_

"Well, no, but we keep up pretenses all the same."

"Because you morons got rid of it!" shouted a Pokemon from one of the cages.

Khrista couldn't see who it was that had spoken, thanks to the large number of cages, but when she saw that Charon hadn't even batted an eye when the creature had cried out.

Maybe he didn't understand PokeSpeak?

"Cassidy, did you explain to M-9 why it is that you brought her here?" Charon asked, motioning to Khrista.

"M-9?" Khrista repeated, frowning.

"We need to call you something until we know your name," the scientist replied readily. He looked over at Cassidy more directly. "Well?"

"You didn't tell me to, so I didn't," Cassidy replied calmly.

Khrista looked up at the Rocket grunt in confusion, then around the room again before settling on a cageless corner of the room, where if looked like the shadows were darker than they were in other places. When she looked at that corner, however, something shifted.

Charon let out an annoyed sigh. "You are here to see which Pokemon would be compatible with you as a decent partner."

"Would be?" Khrista repeated, frowning. The _real_ question that was going through her head, though, was "Why are they letting me pick a partner when I'm clearly _not_ under their control?"

"We aren't going to give it to you now," Charon amended, "but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be prepared with your most compatible Type."

Khrista's frown deepened as she became concerned at the idea. However, she said nothing, instead looking around the room again and looking at each of the Pokemon. Most of them were "basic" Pokemon, small enough to fit in cages that were stacked on top of each other, but there were one or two that were being kept in larger cages at the bottom of a few of the stacks.

"Now, considering your test results, I'd say that we should go with a Pokemon you're unfamiliar with," Charon continued. He walked over to a bunch of cages that looked like they contained Pokemon from Kanto and Jhoto; an Eevee sitting in a cage at Charon's eye-level cowered when the scientist approached. "Something from The Boy's home, perhaps?"

Khrista blinked, frowning. It took her a moment to realize that Charon was actually referring to Ash.

"Considering the Pokemon native to the Sinnoh and Hoenn regions, it doesn't give us very much to work with, but I believe I may have found a solution." Charon started to reach for the latch on one of the cages - which contained a Pokemon Khrista couldn't see clearly, but she could hear it growling the closer Charon's hand got.

It was at this exact moment that the thing in the shadows decided to strike.

A dark purple blur burst out of the shadowy corner and grabbed Khrista's left arm. She only had time to let out a yell of alarm before her entire surroundings disappeared into darkness.

The next thing she knew, she was standing in the middle of a cell, the dark purple creature still clamped to her arm.

But that wasn't what Khrista was looking at in surprise and shock.

She was staring at the boy sitting on the lower bunk of the stacked beds in front of her.

**Khrista's POV**

No. Way.

I thought it was weird enough that I ended up shadow-traveling thanks to some Pokemon that's now on my arm, but now it's just getting even stranger.

Because I think that I'm looking at my fifteen-year-old cousin.

Brown hair - just like mine, no surprise, considering how popular the color is. He wore a cerulean-blue shirt, blue jeans, and dark-blue slip-on shoes - a little off, but nothing that nobody's ever tried before.

But those eyes. Hazel with green specs. As far as I know, no one else has those eyes.

It's got to be him.

"Hey," the boy greeted calmly. "You might want to let go of her now."

The creature on my arm shook its head. "No way. Shorty and Blondie were in the room when I nabbed her. I'm going to have to move her out before they try to hunt me down." Girly voice, sounded like the Pokemon knew what it was doing.

I looked over and, to my surprise, found that a Gengar had latched onto me. I'm surprised I didn't feel the temperature drop or something.

"Uh...what's going on?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

The hazel-eyed boy reached into a pocket of his jeans, then pulled out some sort of device and walked over to my left side. I tried to move away, but the Gengar kept me in place while the boy dropped something in my ear.

"A communicator," he explained, taking a step back while the device settled in my ear. "We'll be able to keep in touch." "What are you -"

"Six on Six, Hoenn teams, no Legendaries allowed," the boy interrupted.

Wait a sec. Those restrictions are _familiar_.

The boy must've seen my eyes widen, because he gave a nod. "Yeah. That's right."

_Definitely_ my cousin. Guys, meet Joshua.

"I knew you'd moved in from out of town, but I didn't think you'd end up getting caught in this," I stated, frowning.

Joshua shrugged. "I play Pokemon. That's all that matters to them."

"We've got to move her out of here," the Gengar muttered. "I can tell. They're coming with a _lot_ of other Pokemon that have been Turned."

"A few minutes longer," Joshua replied. He put a hand on my shoulder. "I figured something was going to happen as soon as I heard they were going to try one last time for get White."

"Whoever that is," I muttered.

Joshua frowned, his green speckled eyes flickering with an emotion I couldn't identify. "The point is that you could end up becoming whatever-it-is that White is, too. Trust me, Arceus chose to act as he did in this world because everything happens for a reason."

"Why not just call him God instead of that Legendary's name?"

"Because that is his name here. There just happens to be a Pseudo-god named after him." Joshua let out a sigh. "Look. I'm going to have my Gengar take you into hiding so that the others don't get a fix on you. If you can, try to come up with something that might end up being helpful in the long run against the head of this operation."

I knew he meant Cyrus there, but why he doesn't say it, either...

There was the sudden sound of pounding on the other end of the door. "Subject J-4! We know you're holding a fugitive Pokemon in there!"

Wait - was that _Saturn's_ voice? The one from the anime? I never thought he'd sound so angry.

"Time to go," the Gengar muttered.

I felt my stomach drop, but nothing went dark this time.

Instead, the back wall of Joshua's cell got blasted open. The toilet and sink ended up falling down a long shaft of darkness filled with pipes, which weren't connected to them, surprisingly.

A second later, the Gengar was holding me up somewhat while I grasped one of the pipes in the shaft, high above where the break in the wall was.

How she managed to move me there so quickly is beyond me, but I'm glad for it.

Because as soon as I had wrapped my arms around the pipe and desperately prayed that they won't see me or the Gengar, the door slammed open.

"Where is the Pokemon?!" Saturn roared as he stomped in - I know because I could hear something that sounded a lot like stomping. "I know it's here!"

"Well, it's not now," Joshua replied. He clearly sounded annoyed.

"I can see that," Saturn's voice hissed. I tried to imagine him looking angry and failed miserably. "Where did it go?"

"Sheesh, what are you, blind? You can see the wall's gone, can't you?"

Wow. I knew he could be snarky before but..._well_.

"Of course I can see that, boy," Saturn growled in reply. "Where did they go? Down or up?"

"Didn't see." I could just imagine seeing Joshua shrug. "There was dust going everywhere."

"There would have been 'dust going everywhere' if it had been broken open from the other side!" Saturn roared.

I heard footsteps down below, and a moment later a beam of light shot out and started to work its way up the wall of pipes. A Pokemon poked its head out - it looked yellow, and had pointy ears and a long mustache. The light was coming off a spoon.

As soon as I realized that the Pokemon was using Flash or something, I noticed a moment later that it was looking _right_ _at_ _me_.

I gripped the pipe more tightly and desperately wished that I wasn't caught like a deer in the headlight's of a hunter's truck. A moment later, I felt like my stomach was doing some sort of twist, but it didn't make me nauseous.

The Pokemon pulled back, the Flash flickering out. A moment later, Saturn let out a growl of annoyance.

"Your friend won't get far," Saturn snarled. "Until this wall is repaired, you will be assigned to a different cell, and I know exactly where you're going to be staying."

A moment later, I heard Joshua snap, "I don't need to be dragged, thanks."

Not long after, I heard a door slam shut, and the light that had been on in the cell below switched off.

I'm alone. In the dark.

With a Gengar.

Oh, boy...

"You are really an odd one," the Gengar remarked suddenly. I turned my head so as to look her in the eye as she continued, "I've never seen a human capable of making themselves into a Dark-Type."

I frowned. "What?"

"Look at your shirt, kid. It's even darker than me."

I looked down, and my eyes widened when I saw the black fabric. "OK. That's weird. I swear I was wearing a red shirt a moment ago." I was starting to get a little freaked out.

"Calm down," the Gengar stated, raising a paw. "I know someone who might be able to help you."

She started to pull me away from the pipe by my waist, but it took a little doing on her part - I was not about to let go of the one thing that was actually _solid_.

Eventually, however, she did let get me to let go, and started to lift me up the shaft.

"Where is it that you're taking me?" I asked, a little fearful of the ghost Pokemon - especially considering that I could be easily dropped who knows _how_ far down the shaft to some unforeseen death. I stiffened up my muscles so that I wasn't just hanging limp.

"You're going to like him, I think," Gengar replied. "He and I have been watching what's been going on as soon as Spiky tore down Lake Verity and our house."

"Your _house_?" I repeated, turning my head in order to try and look up at the ghost.

"Yeah. What - you didn't think that we have houses?"

"Um..." I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Doesn't matter. Listen, kid, your cuz is our Trainer, and we've been keeping an eye on him." The wicked grin on the Gengar's face grew even wider. "We've been his top two for Double Battles, if you remember."

I blinked in confusion, trying to think back to whenever Joshua had asked me to a Pokemon match that was a Double Battle. The only time I could remember about that kind of thing was in Hoenn, after he had borrowed my Gameboy to send Pokemon from his FireRed game. Next thing I knew, my team had been floored by two of his Pokemon - and he hadn't even used the other two on his team.

Well, I exaggerate about the not using the rest of his team, but it could have ended up like that if I had been careless.

But which ones -

Wait. There were a couple names that popped into my head unbidden.

I looked up at the Gengar in surprise. "Wait - are you _Gangrene_?"

The Gengar's grin got wider. "The one and only!" She looked up at the darkness above us and seemed to tighten her grip. "Can you become intangible too, Dark girl?"

"I-I don't know."

"Well, shoot. Guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Before I could ask Gangrene what she meant, I suddenly felt really cold as my stomach wrenched, and everything went black.

**And there he was! Joshua, the only Trainer who's got a Gengar hiding out in the building!**

**See you guys later!**


	12. Pre-Exploration

**Happy Easter! Here's an extra chapter from me for this week!**

**Chapter 11 - Pre-Exploration**

"Hey, Swamp. It's time."

The Swampert opened his eyes in annoyance upon hearing a voice in his ears. He looked up from the edge of the deep mud puddle he happened to be lying in and found himself staring at the green, scarred face of a certain Grass-Type.

Swamp scowled up at the Sceptile standing at the edge of the mud puddle, then started to climb out of it with slow, casual steps that allowed him to stay in the mud for as long as he could. "Greetings...Cedar. Did you _have_ to interrupt my rest here?"

The Grass-Type smirked and shook his head. "The Profs want to meet with us again, so they sent me to hunt you down. And I'm glad I managed to find you, too - most other Pokemon would have thought to look with the other Water-Types."

Swamp snorted, shaking himself a little as the mud started to slide off him. "What is it they want us for?" A thought tickled him at the back of his mind, bringing back what exactly had happened the day before - if one could call it a day.

Cedar calmly took a step back in order to avoid the sprinkling of mud. "It's got something to do with what we were called in for last time. Remember?"

Swamp paused in his shaking and gave the Sceptile an unidentifiable expression. "I think I have a hunch."

The two started to walk away from a collection of mud pits that were surrounded by Quagsire that were spewing water out and washing mud off each other. The environment changed to a grassy plain, which had multiple, small Pokemon of all Types going about and keeping themselves busy with their own games. It wasn't too long before they were back at the Professors' building, but they weren't alone.

Swamp's gaze went over Professors Oak and Birch - the latter of the two looking better than he had before - and the three-headed Ground-Type that was burrowed into the ground at their feet. Leaning against the lab's wall were also two teenage boys who looked almost identical, except that the older of the two (he looked to be about 18 years) had blue eyes and the other (aged 16 years) had brown orbs that matched the color of the spiky hair the two shared. Victini floated nearby with a large grin on his face, while the Pikachu from the previous meeting looked up at the two arriving Hoenn Pokemon with a calm expression.

Swamp looked at the boys in surprise. "Gary? Blue? What are you doing here?"

Cedar ignored him. "Did you find anything?"

Birch nodded eagerly. "We've gotten this Dugtrio to escort the team Pika will assemble to the source of the activity in Mt. Coronet." His eyes sparked with excitement.

"Birch has been attempting to send those four off for the last hour," Oak continued with a frown. "Of course, Pika had to find two Trainers and a Pokemon that have no business leaving the Underground."

"Is that why you sent for us?" Swamp asked. "Do you want us to go in their place?"

"Actually, the both of you have a spot on this team, if you chose to come along," Pika replied seriously. "We could use the help of Pokemon who have been with Trainers who have survived the journey before. You two are both at high enough levels for this."

"I think 100 would be a bit overkill for this place," Swamp remarked. "However, if it means finding new allies, I'm willing to come along."

"As am I," Cedar added. "My Trainer is inside that tower and if there are Goons still wandering around this place, then there's a chance that we could make a dent in that madman's forces." He slammed his clawed hands together, the leaves on his arms seeming to sharpen from the movement.

"We're going, too, Professor," the boy with brown eyes - Gary - spoke up. "There could be something on top of Mt. Coronet that could tell us if there's anything we can do to free Ash."

"And maybe Red's location," Blue added as he stepped away from the building. "I'm not going to rest until my rival is found."

Birch gave a nod, then turned his attention to Oak. "What do have to say to that, Samuel?" He sounded oddly smug for a Pokemon Professor.

The Kanto resident looked around at the group, seeing the determined looks that were on their faces. The old man then let out a sigh.

"Very well, you may go," Oak stated, gaining an even wider grin from Victini, who had been watching expectantly. "However, you have to come back immediately if anything goes wrong, understand?" Oak wagged a finger as he looked down at Pika.

"I got it, Professor," Pika replied. He turned to look at the group, nodded, then looked down at the Dugtrio. "Lead the way, friend."

The three heads gave a nod each, then turned and stated around the lab. The rest of the group followed, leaving Professor Birch and Professor Oak behind.

As they crossed a clearing that sat encircled by huts made by Pokemon and humans alike, Blue looked over at Cedar and Swamp. "So, your Trainer is -"

"We don't work under the same Trainer," Cedar stated quickly, making a slashing motion with one paw. "We have crossed paths repeatedly, though - under Avatars."

"Avatars?" Gary looked at the Sceptile in surprise. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. A pair of Avatars got you to be this strong?"

"It seems they have a lot of time on their hands," Swamp replied.

They were approaching the other side of the clearing, now. Two identical buildings rose up on either side, their gray paint looking unusually worn considering that the buildings surrounding them looked brand new.

"Gyms," Blue stated, motioning to the two buildings. "If I'm right, Falkner and Winona are taking them over for the day and giving some Pokemon down here a run for their money for training."

Swamp inclined his head. "Falkner? The Flying Trainer from Jhoto?"

"That's him."

The group moved past the Gyms, then started towards a tunnel that looked like it had collapsed open; rubble was still lying piled up on either side of the hole in the wall.

"This was made when a couple kids decided to use Earthquake against Volkner and Surge," Pika explained, motioning to the tunnel as he turned to look at the rest of the group. The Dugtrio paused at the entrance and looked back upon sensing that the group had stopped.

"Does it lead to Deep Coronet?" Swamp asked.

"And to the top of the mountain," Cedar added, looking over at the Water-Type. "According to what we saw, there were multiple passages that led to different areas of the mountain - probably out onto the surface, even."

"But we're going to stay inside the mountain," Pika stated, pointing down at the ground. He turned to look at the Dugtrio. "Let's go."

The Pokemon's heads bobbed. "I'll take you only as far as the entrance to Deep Coronet, and no farther."

"I know." Pika touched his red scarf - specifically, the PokeBall badge that was pinned there. "That's why we're going in. Take us as far as you need to."

"OK. Follow me."

The Dugtrio started down the tunnel, followed by the rest of the group.

As the Underground disappeared behind them, the light started to fade, but then more light started to come into existence from two sources - Pika lighting up like a light bulb right behind Dugtrio, and Victini flying around himself and providing more light himself.

"The two of you know Flash?" Swamp asked, looking up at Victini.

The little V-shaped Legendary paused in front of the Swampert and shrugged. _"I'm part Fire, so I can give off heat and light if I want. It's not exactly Flash, but it works."_

"Mine is not a true Flash, either," Pika spoke up, turning his head for a moment to look back at the Water/Ground-Type. "I'm releasing a low-level Electric field that isn't going to harm anyone nearby. My original parter used to say that it tingled, but that was before she got paralyzed over ten times in Amp Plains on a hunt for Zapdos." The Pikachu shook his head. "That Vulpix had a lot more endurance than I ever did in the beginning."

"A Fire-Type?" Cedar asked. "Would've thought you picked a Grass-Type to pair up with - Type disadvantage and all."

"Type isn't everything. She'd helped me out of a lot of jams - and I'm thankful for that." Pika looked up at the Sceptile. "Why? Do you have something against them because of Type?"

"No." Cedar raised a paw to trace down the scar that went over his right eye. "It's because of people who used those Types against me and others."

"Oh?" Pika's ear twitched.

"This has something to do with the activity in Hoenn, isn't it?" Blue asked, frowning. "When we were trapped in that 'stone sleep,' as White called it?"

Swamp's orange "whiskers" twitched. He'd heard about something like that happening in Kanto, back when he was still with Professor Birch, but to hear it directly from one of the kids who actually got put under because of some weird energy radiation really hit it home for him.

Cedar gave a grim nod. "I was wild then. No one was going to give me to some Trainer." He let out a short, grim laugh. "That's when some guy in red found me in the Petalburg Woods. Decided I might make a good fighter and took me in. Taught me a few things, but what he taught me _more_ was how much I _hated_ Fire-Types - and Team Magma by extent."

_"And the scar?" _Victini pressed.

"Given me by my old Trainer, when he was trying to teach me a lesson." Cedar gave a grim smile. "I taught him one back and crushed my own PokeBall running out of there. Birch found me and gave me to some hologram and told me I'd be working with a ghost. I learned later that he was an Avatar named Joshua - Tate and Liza made him fully fleshed in their Gym for one night. Didn't say anything, though."

"Consider yourself lucky," Swamp spoke up. "I never saw my Trainer until Cyrus forced her to come here. Khrista didn't deserve to get dragged in like this."

"No one did, Swamp," Blue replied. "No one did."

**Yup. The chapters are short, I know, but I'm kind of running with my old pattern for now. Things are going to end up getting combined later, so the story's got fewer chapter's than the original did.**

**See you guys next week!**


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